LB 

,0 *f Teachers' Helps 

PRACTICAL 
PLANS 

for 

Primarp and Intermediate Teachers 




3y 

Bethenia McLemore OldKam 



Price 35 Cents 



CLAUDE J. BELL, PuUisKer 

NASHVILLE. TENN. 



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for 




In 
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SCHOOLS 

BETHENIA McLEMORE OLDHAM 



(Copyright Applied for) 

CLAUDE J. BELL, Publisher 

NASHVILLE, TENN. 

J915 






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DEDICATED 
TO 

Father and Mother, 

My guides and helpers through the 

years of teaching. 



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C1A822034 



FEB 14 1925 






CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

The Room I 

The Teacher II 

The Children III 

Morning Exercises IV 

Reading V 

Spelling VI 

Numbers VII 

Language VIII 

Geography IX 

History X 

Special Programs XI 

Busy Work and Pictures XII 



PREFACE 



This booklet is written for two purposes. One is to 
help the young teacher who has had no experience and 
does not know how to begin or what to do. 

The other is that it may serve as a store house of 
useful information for the busy teacher, who has not 
time to hunt up helps for daily use. 

The chapters on how to teach reading, spelling, num- 
bers, etc., are for the first class. 

The morning exercises are designed to be helpful to 
all, and may suggest some new things even to those 
who have had experience in dealing with children. 

In the language work an outline for the entire ses- 
sion is given. Information by the teacher is collected 
from various sources, so that by turning to any given 
month there will be found ready for use : 

1. Principal facts in the lives of noted people 
born during that month. 

2. Nature Study accompanied by definite informa- 
tion about flowers, insects, etc. 

3. Carefully GRADED EXERCISES for the use of 
English. 

In the special day exercise complete programs are 
not given, but songs, suggestions, and recitations with 
which to supplement other material. 

There are so many phases of primary work that not 
all can be treated in so small a book, but these are 
given in the hope that they may prove a benefit to 
some one. 

The last pages give devices for seat-work, for when 
we have learned to keep children busy we have the 
key to successful work in the primary department. 

Give children something to do and they will not 
have time to be bad. One short chapter tells where to 
get pictures and how to use them. 

These suggestions and styles for teaching are the 
result of ten years practical work in the school room. 



CHAPTER I 

The Room 

If possible, have a separate room, and make it at- 
tractive. Whether you are in the city or country 
schools, seek to have the place v^here the children 
gather each day bright, cheerful, and pretty. Reward 
the little ones by putting their best work on the wall, 
language-work, maps and drawings. Collect pictures 
to place there and change them occasionally. Don't 
have one in the same place throughout the session. 
Teach the children to keep their desks in order. Just 
before recess call them little housekeepers and ask 
them to clean up their houses; or pretend that each 
desk is a room, and as they put them in order let them 
recite or sing some simple words, as : 

We are little house-keepers. 

Cleaning, cleaning. 

We are little house-keepers 

Cleaning up our rooms. 

In Emile Poulsson's "Finger Play«," published by 
T^othrop Publiahing Co., Boston, is a song which is 
very suitable for this: *'Where oh! where are the 
little men?'' The merry little men being the ten 
fingers. 

After the children have cleaned up their houses, call 
attention to the streets (aisles) and, as **many hands 
make light work" the room will soon be in order. 
Make work like play as much as possible. If two boys 
are told to pull up weeds in the yard, they perhaps will 

5 



go about the task in a lazy, listless way, and get little 
done: but if you say, "Boys, see who can pull up a 
hundred weeds first," they will go to work with such 
energy that the task will be completed in a short time. 
Another plan to have children straighten their desks 
is to have them do it in concert as the teacher says the 
words. This has been tried with larger pupils and as 
the teacher said, "Inkwells closed, books in desks, 
paper off the floor," everything was done "decently and 
in order." Still another method is to say, 'Two min- 
utes to clean up your houses." No matter how orderly 
and careful children are, some stray bits of paper will 
get on the floor and some books and pencils be mis- 
placed. 

Teach pupils not to bring mud into the house. Tell 
how it dries and fills the room with fine particles of 
dust, which float about and are breathed into the 
lungs. Encourage them to take care of their books 
and pencils, and to keep them in place. Set a good 
example by having your own desk or table straight. 
Initials should be cut on each child's pencil, which 
should be tied to his book or kept in his pencil-box. 
Some teachers prefer to take up the pencils each even- 
ing and distribute them again next morning. Others 
have a certain color for the pencils used in the first 
grade, another for those used in the second, etc., so 
that when one is misplaced it is easy to locate it. Have 
a trash-box for waste-paper, a knife in some special 
place where the children have access to it. Require 
them to put it in place always, or you may have it to 
hang by a strong cord. Keep scissors where the chil- 
dren can use them, so that there will be no excuse for 
ragged papers. 

See that talc and erasers are in place before school 
and thus avoid confusion. A bottle of mucilage is 

6 



convenient in a school-room and a hammer and tacks 
are almost indispensable. A broom should be near at 
hand, also a pointer and duster. All of these things 
should be taken care of and as they are for the con- 
venience of ALL, the pupils themselves should be 
trained to keep them in place. If practicable have a 
cabinet, a home-made one will ansv^er, in which to 
collect shells, pretty rocks, different kinds of acorns, 
cocoons, pine-cones and numerous other things in 
which children take delight when they are encouraged 
to hunt for them. Keep a substantial vase on your 
desk if only an oyster can covered with bright paper, 
and try to keep it filled with flowers. 

Every boy should have a special hook on which to 
hang his hat and overcoat, and every little girl like- 
wise should know exactly where to look for her hat 
and wrap. Umbrellas and overshoes should not be 
mixed promiscuously, nor should lunch-baskets. In 
the country these rules should be observed just as much 
as in towns and cities. It not only saves the teacher 
trouble and annoyance, but trains the children to be 
methodical in their habits, and to respect the rights 
of others. 

During the summer, prepare to make your primary 
room attractive by collecting material. Go to the 
school house the day before the opening and set things 
in order. If you are a young teacher with no expe- 
rience and in a strange building, decide where you 
will have your table or desk, where you want the 
chart, where you would like to have the pupils when 
they are reciting, and how they will march out. Some 
rooms are so arranged that you have no choice in these 
matters, but at least look over your ground and know 
beforehand what you want to do. Pin a few pictures 
on the wall, put up any maps you may have, and 



arrange your busywork where you can get it when 
needed. If you want to put a motto around the clock 
you can use the words, ^Tm watching you/' ''Keep 
busy," or "Take care of the minutes." Hang a calen- 
dar in a convenient place, see that the windows are 
bright, and everything neat and clean. Have a pencil 
and tablet ready and prepare a schedule of what you 
wish to do on the first day. 

People are unconsciously influenced by environment. 
Some children have nothing pleasant to look at in 
their homes, so give them something here. Often in 
the country a teacher has to combine secondary with 
primary work. These plans for method, and order, 
of having "a place for everything and everything in 
its place" are applicable there also. The yard as well 
as the house should be kept clean. There are schools 
in the country where paper, applecores and chicken- 
bones are strewn in every direction, so that the whole 
place has an air of neglect and untidiness. The waste 
paper may be utilized for making fires and the remains 
of dinner deposited in a receptacle and burned, or 
thrown where birds can get them. Growing plants 
in a school-room always add to its beauty. 

Desks should be so arranged that pupils will not face 
the windows. Light falling over their left shoulders is 
preferable, then their hands do not cast shadows when 
they write. This is an important item about the room 
and should be remembered. Another thing to be con- 
sidered is the ventilation. So many persons constantly 
breathing out poisonous gas and using up the oxygen 
necessarily make the air unwholesome. During every 
recess, doors and windows should be opened wide for a 
few minutes, so that fresh air may circulate and fill 
the room. If windows are kept open for the purpose 
of ventilation, great care should be taken to avoid 

8 



draughts. The bodies as well as the minds and hearts 
of children should be kept healthy. Watch the fire, 
or appoint a responsible pupil to do so. Do not keep 
the room too hot or too cold. 

Select only good pictures for your walls. Do not 
think you have to use every cheap print brought by 
the chidren. (See last chapter.) Teach children not 
to deface property, not to waste chalk, cut their desks 
or mark on the walls. Let them feel that the school- 
room belongs to them all and gain their co-operation 
to keep it in good condition. 

A set of book-shelves or a book-case is a helpful 
addition. If you start to collect books for a children's 
library, it is astonishing how they accumulate. Pub- 
lishers send them to you if you are a wide-awake, pro- 
gressive teacher. Friends help you, and the children 
themselves make contributions, sometimes by lending 
and sometimes by giving their own books. Then you 
can make others. Old catalogues of convenient size 
and shape may be turned into scrap-books and filled 
with stories and pictures. Make your room so bright, 
-attractive and pretty that the children will feel that it 
is good to be there. 



CHAPTER II 
The Teacher 

Why are you teaching? Is it because you love your 
work, love the children, and are trying to do good in 
the world? Is it because you are obliged to do it in 
order to make a living? Is it because you love to have 
money to spend? Is it because some of your friends 
or relatives are on the school board and gave you the 
place? 

Perhaps it is for several of these reasons combined. 
Now for another question: What kind of teacher are 
you? You may fill a teacher's position because cir- 
cumstances compel you to do so, but the way in which 
you fill it depends on yourself only. Are you in earnest 
about your work? Do you realize the sacred respon- 
sibility of training little children? Do you read pro- 
fessional books and school journals, try to fin^ out 
what others are doing, keep your eyes open, seek to 
train the hearts as well as the minds of the children 
under you? In short are you a teacher, with your 
whole soul in your work, or merely a person filling a 
place that by rights some one else should have? 

If you are not a real teacher, why not? It may 
be you have never thought much about it at all, and 
that with you, lying dormant, are powers for good of 
which you are yet unconscious. If this is the case 
oh! wake up and think what you are doing. "What 
if God should place in your hands a diamond and 
tell you to inscribe on it a sentence which should be 

10 



read at the last day and shown there as an index of 
your own thoughts and feelings, what care, what cau- 
tion would you exercise in the selection ! Now this is 
just what God has done. He has placed before you 
the immortal minds of children, more imperishable 
than the diamond, on which you are to inscribe by 
your instruction, by your spirit and by your example 
something which will REMAIN and be exhibited for or 
against you at the judgment." Isn't this a serious, a 
conscience-searching thought ? How earnest we should 
be, how careful, how zealous! 

It is strange that people have not found out long ago 
that a poor teacher may dwarf a child's mental ability, 
may deaden his sensibility. A man would not take 
a costly watch to any but a skilled goldsmith to be 
repaired ; if his eyes troubled him, he would trust only 
a specialist to treat them; and yet think how much 
more important than a watch or the eyes even, is the 
mind of a child. The watch may tarnish and the 
works within give out, the eye will die with the body, 
but a child's mind, his soul, lives on forever. 

Sometimes when a poor teacher loses a position 

people say, "Oh ! aren't you sorry for Mr. 

or Miss ? I don't think it is fair to give 

that place to some one else." Think of this question: 
was it fair to those children to give them any but the 
very best teacher? Their little minds were being 
dwarfed, their powers and capabilities repressed, their 
mental and moral growth retarded. Was that fair? 
Children have a right to the best instruction and not 
the poorest. 

There is a constantly increasing demand for skilled 
teachers, and especially is this the case in the primary 
department. The time is fast coming when a poor 
teacher will not be employed any more than a poor 

11 



dentist or a poor physician. People can't afford it. 
They will find out that even if it costs more money, it 
pays to have their children taught well. 

The primary teacher more than all others holds a 
responsible position, because it is while the children 
are young that the strongest impressions are made on 
their minds. It is then that the foundation is laid 
for all future work, and if the building is to be strong, 
well proportioned and symmetrical throughout, how 
important it is that the foundation should be good. 
It requires more time, thought and study to be a first- 
class primary teacher than to be any other kind. 

You have probably heard words to this effect : *'0h ! 
she has only the lower classes in school, anybody can 
teach them." This is not true. It takes skill, tact, 
preparation and patience to teach the lower branches 
and to do it successfully. It takes experience, too. You 
may have heard this also, "I'd rather have a young 
teacher's enthusiasm than an old teach^er's expe- 
rience." That depends upon what kind of young 
teacher or what kind of old teacher you have. En- 
thusiasm alone is not all that is necessary, neither is 
experience ; but both are needed. Of course the longer 
you teach the better you can teach, if you don't allow 
yourself to get into a rut, as the lady did who used 
the same Geography for fourteen years. Text-books 
change, methods change, and the teacher, in order to 
keep up with the onward march of progress must 
change. Experience we must have and the longer we 
teach, the more we know that there is more to know. 
Teaching is no child's play, it is genuine work, and 
only those who have taught can realize how much it 
means. Education, what is it? It isn't to see how 
many facts can be stored away within the child's 
brain, but how much the mind and heart grow and are 

12 



developed, that is the true aim of teaching. The word 
"educate" comes from "educo," to ''lead out.' 

All real teachers as the years go by, look back and 
see where they might have done better, and constantly 
strive to go forward. Whether we begin well or ill 
our whole work is determined by our ideals. "In what 
spirit am I working?" we should ask ourselves. It 
should be the spirit of love and of humility. We should 
try to serve the children and study the best means of 
doing this. Hundreds of questions will be asked by 
the eager, curious little ones, questions not in the 
books but in their own bright minds, and we must be 
ready with answers as often as possible. Never de- 
ceive a child when he asks a question. If you can't 
answer him, it is better to say honestly and candidly, 
"I don't know, but I will try to find out," than to pre- 
tend to knowledge which you do not possess. 

A teacher should keep up with the times and be 
informed about the latest text-books. Even if you 
can't use them in your school, you gain ideas from 
seeing and reading them. Buy, borrow, or exchange 
books with some friend who is a teacher. If you are 
in the country try to keep in touch with some live city 
teacher who will be glad to give you ideas. Take a day 
off occasionally and visit other schools. Don't be 
satisfied with your own work but see what others are 
doing. On the other hand, don't adopt every new 
book and method of which you hear. What may suit 
one school or class may not be adapted to another. 
Attend County Institutes, and if they are uninterest- 
ing make them interesting. Be so enthusiastic your- 
self that you will inspire others. Give the results of 
your reading and your methods when you think it will 
do good; don't keep them all to yourself. Help and 
get help from these meetings, that is what they are 

13 



for. Whether you teach in a public or private school 
don't neglect to meet with other teachers. Learn what 
you can from them, and give out what you know so 
that others may use your ideas. The true teacher is 
ready, willing and anxious to teach not only pupils but 
any one who needs to be taught. 

"The center, around which everything revolves, is 
the teacher. If she is happy, bright, and full of en- 
thusiasm, with quick perception and a kind heart, her 
character will be reflected in the little ones about her. 
If she is cross, or does things in a mechanical, half- 
hearted way, this, too, will have its effect." What the 
teacher is, the school will be. If we wish to govern 
others we must first learn to govern ourselves. This 
is at once the most important and the most difficult 
rule to keep. If you allow yourself to grow irritable, 
the feeling will be communicated to the pupils, but if 
you preserve an even temper and a well-balanced head 
and heart, everything will move on smoothly and with- 
out friction. "Greater is he that ruleth his own spirit 
than he that taketh a city." Certain it is that only 
when we control ourselves are we fitted to control 
others. 

Are you ever cross in the school-room? Do you 
scold the children and find fault with them and think 
they are the worst children you ever saw? Do you 
ever think to yourself, "I can't stand this any longer?" 
Then at night do you feel ashamed of yourself, and 
discouraged at the same time? There are two things 
the matter. One is that you do not plan your work 
well. You didn't give these children anything to do 
and very naturally they fell into mischief. Then you 
showed that you felt cross, and that made the children 
feel cross. Yes, that is one trouble, but the cause 
back of all that, is that your nerves are giving out, 

14 



and that you are slowly and surely committing sui- 
cide. Don't you know that teaching is a great strain 
on even the strongest constitution ? Look about you at 
the teachers of your acquaintance, how many look 
healthy? Can't you think of more than one teacher 
who has broken down from overwork? They tell the 
children to obey the laws of health and how many 
know how to take care of themselves? You need 
more sleep. You need to go to bed earlier and to have 
some rest. You need recreation and a little break in 
the monotony of work. The human frame can stand 
a great deal, but there must be a reckoning some time. 
Don't use up all of your nerve force at once. Work as 
much as you please, keep busy, study, read, but re- 
member that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull 
boy." Your teaching will be better if every now and 
then you allow yourself to relax. 

It helps the primary teacher to have mother meet- 
ings. Most mothers send a child to school and never 
even visit the school to see what the teacher is giving 
him. One of two things must be true, either the 
parents must have unbounded confidence in the teacher 
or must care nothing, think nothing of the child's 
character being moulded for time and eternity. Some- 
times they do not even know the teacher, do not see 
him or her, until the close of the session. This is often 
the case in the country and too frequently in town, 
and yet that teacher has put into that child's life 
thoughts and ideas that will last always. Parents 
need to know the teachers, teachers need to know the 
parents, and as both are factors in influencing the 
child's destiny they ought to work together. Both 
need to study the child, to find out what is best for his 
particular nature; what his natural tendencies are, 
which need to be strengthened and which discouraged. 

15 



Better work would be done and better results obtained 
if parents would realize this. There are many teach- 
ers who have waked up to the importance of their 
work and are ready and eager to do the best they can ; 
but they need help, they need support, they need the 
co-operation of the fathers and mothers who should 
realize the importance of the teacher's work, should 
be interested in it, and should visit the p,laces where 
their children are daily taught. 

Call the mothers of your pupils together. Organize 
a club, and discuss questions pertaining to the wel- 
fare of the school. Read everythnig in the Primary 
Department of The Normal Instructor. Find out 
what other mother clubs are doing and seek to gain 
practical results from co-operation. 

Teachers, our work is high and noble, the greatest 
of all professions next to the preaching of the gospel. 
We hold the future of this nation in our hands to a 
great extent, for who are these children but the future 
men and women of our country? They will make its 
history hereafter. We, as teachers, are moulding 
them, and according to the way in which we bend 
and train their minds and inclinations so will they be. 
We do not have more influence than some parents, for 
while there are those who through thoughtlessness or 
ignorance neglect their childrn, there are others who 
give the most earnest consideration to training their 
little ones aright. They pray over it, they strive to 
their utmost to keep them in the right path, to throw 
in their way good books, to have them associate with 
kind, well-behaved chidren, to give them employment 
and amusement in the home, in order to keep them 
happy and healthy in mind and body. Yet many of 
these do not realize that our work as teachers is the 

16 



same as theirs. Some of them think that if their chil- 
dren are taught to read, to write, to spell, and to cipher 
that the teacher has done her part. Ah! but she 
hasn't. If this were all, if the responsibility stopped 
here the work would be easy enough. There are many 
who could do this who are not teachers in the true 
sense of the word. 

What must a teacher have? First above all things 
she must have patience, unbounded patience: patience 
that will enable her to be gentle when children are 
noisy and restless and have bad lessons. Then she 
must have love ; love for all of the little ones who are 
placed in her care. Mothers love their own children 
but how many of them have patience when the child 
of the neighbor runs through the house with muddy 
feet or how many are just, and able to see both sides 
in a quarrel between the little neighbor child and their 
own. Yet a teacher must have love enough and a 
heart big enough to gather all of the little ones in, and 
must be impartial enough to decide against one she 
loves perhaps the most, if another is in the right. She 
must be just, she must be wise, must have tact and 
prudence, must learn the modern and improved meth- 
ods of teaching. She must have forethought, and plan 
out each week how best to make the lessons interest- 
ing for the week following. She must have good com- 
mon sense and her mind must be stored with various 
kinds of knowledge. Even if she doesn't teach them, 
she must know something of History, of Geography, 
of Geology and Botany. She must acquire the art of 
story telling, must study the natural world about us, 
the birds, the trees, the flowers, the sunshine and the 
rain. She must take a wide range and visit the realms 
of poetry, of music, of art. She must know something 
about these wonderful bodies of ours and how to keep 

17 



them healthy. She must be well-informed on current 
topics and most important of all, must be filled with 
kindness of heart. Woman is spoken of rather than 
man because of late years the work of the primary 
department is being given into her hands. 

The ideal drawn is high and perhaps none of us can 
attain it, but we can try, and there are many who do 
try. 

"Heaven is not reached at a single bound, 

But we build the ladder by which we rise. 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies. 

And we mount to the summit round by round." 

So, little by little, must we rise in our chosen profes- 
sion. Sometimes we are discouraged. There is much 
to do, there are many Ideas that we can not put into 
practice. It is hard to be always self-controlled, al- 
ways patient, always kind, but we must not mourn 
over failures. Let us rather say, "I will forget those 
things which are behind and press forward." 




18 



CHAPTER III 

The Children 

Here are the children ; school has begun. What will 
you do with them? How will you control them, by 
means of love or fear? Will you lead or drive them? 
How will you teach them, wisely and well? When 
they leave you next spring or next summer will they 
be better or worse for your influence? They must be 
one or the other. They are as marble in the sculptor's 
hands. Beautiful traits of character are to be 
rounded out and developed, the angles of bad habit 
and wrong tendencies are to be cut off or rubbed down. 
Are all children alike? In some respects yes, but in 
others how vastly different. Here is one child who 
tells a falsehood as naturally as he speaks, he doesn't 
think about it at all. Another has been told the sin of 
it but the habit is so firmly fixed that he finds it hard 
to stop. Another is truthful but high-tempered. 
One child is timid, self-conscious, painfully bashful, 
while one of the same age is aggressively pert, likes to 
be noticed and has evidently been taught at home that 
she is the most important of all persons. 

What is the best thing to do for such children? 
Study them, find out their thoughts, their aspirations, 
their minds, their good and bad traits, their likes and 
dislikes. The florist in order to bring blossoms to 
perfection studies flowers, how much more important 
it is that we study the blossoms placed in our care! 
He knows that all plants must not be treated in the 
same way, that some need a sandy soil while others do 

19 



not, that some require more water than others and 
some need the sunlight more. So it is with children ; 
some require a great amount of kindness and patience 
on the part of the teacher and can be reached in no 
other way. With others the teacher is compelled to 
use firmness. 

Each child must be studied with a view to helping 
that particular one. Study them in the class, on the 
playground, in their homes. Learn what their early 
training has been. Are their parents poor or rich, 
kind or unkind, cultured or ignorant, worldly or God- 
fearing? With whom has this boy or that girl asso- 
ciated? All of these things help to determine the 
character of each little one in your room. Oh! if you 
could know the home life of some, it would make you 
patient and forbearing. You would pity instead of 
blame. 

In this country there are educated workers who for 
some time have urged the study of psychological phe- 
nomena in children. This is done in order that we 
may have better schools and better teachers. A na- 
tional society for this study was formed in Chicago in 
1893 and Dr. G. Stanley Hall was made president. 
The movement really began in Boston in 1879 when 
six primary teachers under the leadership of Mrs. 
Shaw took several children at a time and tried to 
find out what they knew. 

The results were surprising. Many had never seen 
a live chicken, a robin nor a growing strawberry. 
When asked the size of a cow, one little tot said it was 
as big as her kitten's tail, and another thought it was 
no bigger than her thumb nail. 

Since then, laboratories have been established in the 
large cities, and children have been measured, tested, 
questioned, and the results each time written down 

20 



and preserved for future reference. Special schools 
exist for the benefit of children whose physical or 
mental growth has been retarded. Dozens of books 
have been written about the study of children, and nu- 
merous articles have appeared from time to time in 
the magazines. 

It is said that every movement which has blessed 
the world, uplifted humanity or helped to solve prob- 
lems, has passed through a period of criticism and 
ridicule. Pestalozzi was ridiculed when he established 
a school different from all previous ones. Horace 
Mann was not only ridiculed but persecuted because 
he insisted on trained teachers and tried to abolish the 
old-fashioned a-b-c method of teaching reading So 
the science of child-study has its share of ridicule 
There will be mistakes made and well meaning people 
will undertake experiments that will do no good be- 
cause they are neither systematic or scientific 
Hasty tests will be made and hasty conclusions 
drawn, from imperfect and incomplete data," but at 
the same time much that is good and useful is being 
given to the educational world by those who know 
what they are about. 

Sometimes as many as a thousand children are ex- 
amined at the same time. They are told to give an- 
swers in writing to such questions as : What fright- 
ens you most? What study do you like best? Do you 
like fairy stories? etc. Some of the answers are very 
queer. In Sioux City a little child on being asked 
Where is God?'^ answered "In another world " One 
said -Upon the hill,- another "Up in the moon," and 
still another, *'In my prayer." 

Once in Boston when the children of the schools 
were measured it was found that the average girl from 
thirteen to fifteen years is taller and heavier than the 

21 



average boy of the same age, but all the rest of her 
life is lighter and smaller. It was found, too, that 
the child's body does not grow with the same degree of 
rapidity in all parts at all times. Certain parts seem 
to grow and get their force and then to rest for a 
time. Children grow taller in spring and times of 
physical growth are also times of mental growth. Dr. 
Hall says, "Growth in all the organs is a more or less 
intermittent process." Another student of child- 
nature writes, "The first pedagogical principle settled 
beyond controversy by this broad study of children is 
that no development is possible without the proper 
functioning of the nervous system." Again Dr. Hall 
says, "Our nervous system, the most important part 
of us, does not acquire its full growth until we are 
fourteen or sixteen years old, and after that there is a 
long period when our growth all centers upon func- 
tion and not upon size." The laws which govern the 
development of the nervous system must determine 
the principles of teaching. One of these laws is that 
first the fundamental is developed, after that the ac- 
cessory. Simple process must come first, the fine, 
delicate and complex ones later. If we reverse the 
order and give to children lessons beyond their mental 
grasp, or "push" them in their studies, they may at- 
tempt what we tell them and their parents may be 
pleased with the progress which they seem to be mak- 
ing, but it is contrary to a law written in the child's 
nerve centers, and sooner or later will produce harm- 
ful effects. Let the child develop gradually. Don't 
crowd the mind. Don't expect too much of a pupil, 
especially during the first year. For six weeks or two 
months after a beginner enters school it seems as if 
he is learning nothing. You grow discouraged. Pos- 
sibly you think to yourself, "Has this child any sense? 

22 



Has he no ideas? Have I been working and trying all 
of this time to teach him and made no progress ?" If 
for the first time you are dealing with young children 
you may have such thoughts but when you've had ex- 
perience you will know better. You will know that 
the ideas are there, that the little mind is gradually, 
slowly, waking up and opening, just as a rosebud 
opens its petals ; and that one day all of a sudden, you 
will realize that your hardest task, that of getting a 
child started, is over, and that he has learned to think 
and study for himself. 

Then how fast he does learn. You have trained his 
powers gradually, naturally. You have not forced him 
to study but made the lessons so pleasant that he 
wanted to come to school. You have let the number 
work and writing go hand in hand with reading and 
the sounds of letters. He has had busy work, draw- 
ing, and talks about nature. 

Never crowd a child's mind or force him to study 
what is too hard for him. Better let him go back and 
travel over the same ground a second time than to ad- 
vance him too rapidly. 

Tests made in the schools of Lincoln, Neb., in the 
last few years, show that popular ideas are sometimes 
the reverse of the truth. For instance, boys are found 
as a rule to be more nervous than girls, and girls can 
stand a greater amount of study. Girls are more con- 
scientious and ambitious than boys. The mental 
equipment is very well balanced, boys excelling in some 
things, girls in others. 

When asked what they would like to be when they 
were grown up, the majority of girls wanted to be 
teachers, and the greatest number of boys wanted an 
active life as that of engineer. The boy's motive, nine 
times out of ten, was because he wanted to get rich. 

23 



When asked to name three wrong and three right 
things, the boys in most cases said it was wrong to 
kick, steal, fight and get drunk, and the girls were 
most impressed with the sin of climbing trees and 
getting their clothes soiled. Both had more to say 
about the wrong things than the right, though a num^ 
ber of girls dwelt on the fact that it is right to tell the 
truth. Twice as many girls as boys knew fairy tales 
and twice as many boys as girls knew Bible stories. 
Boys have a vast amount of energy. This is why they 
seem bad when really they are not. This energy must 
be utilized at once. It must have an outlet, a vent. If 
you don't give them something to do they will not be 
long in finding something. 

The brain of a girl is heavier than that of a boy at 
first, after that the absolute weight is greater in a boy, 
relative weight in a girl. Girls fear more things than 
boys and are more emotional, therefore easier to cry. 
A boy is more cruel than a girl, more of a savage in 
his nature. Sometimes a girl likes to tease but more 
often it is a boy and when he teases those who are 
weaker or younger than himself he becomes a "bully." 
Boys can be controlled as easily as girls and most of 
them can be ruled by kindness. If you will appeal to 
them in the right way and arouse the better nature, 
punishments will not be necessary. 

Nearly all children fear things. In a school in 
Massachusetts where a number of them were exam- 
ined, they were asked what they feared most. The 
answers were various though the largest percentage 
were afraid of animals, dogs coming first in the list 
and snakes second. In another school one little girl 
said, "It frightens me most to see anybody that does 
not believe in God." Another said, "The thing that 
frightens me most is to be tempted to do wrong." One 

24 



said, ''Death frightens me most," and other answers 
to the same question were, *To dream bad dreams," 
"To have some one hide and jump out and scare me," 
''Not to stand examination," "Elephants," "War," the 
"Bad man," etc. These same little girls and boys 
were asked to tell the kindest thing you can do and 
among the answers were these: "To do all you can 
for anybody you see that needs it," "To keep someone 
from doing wrong," "To do all you can to make 
others happy," "To be a comfort to your parents and 
grandparents," "To do charitable deeds," "To be kind 
to your mother," "To help the poor." They were asked 
to name something very wrong, one wrote, "To cheat," 
another, "To tell a story," and a third, "To mak^ light 
of religion." 

Some people who have studied the question, think 
that with regard to memory boys reach the maximum 
in the second grade and that after that girls excel. 
Again it is held that while girls learn more quickly 
than boys, the latter retain ideas better and longer. 

If in your school you cannot carry on systematic 
and scientific child-study, find out as much as po^jsible 
about each little child you have to teach, his inner life, 
thoughts and emotions. This will help you more than 
all else to understand and control those who are placed 
in your care. Find the key-note to each character and 
bring out the best powers there hidden. 

Make every effort to teach children to depend on 
themselves. Show them how to study, then encourage 
them to study alone. Have short periods, do not tire 
the minds, but have variety and changes. Make the 
busy work interesting and have it correlate with 
lessons. 

When little ones are restless, spend a few moments 
in vigorous exercise or marching. Let them change 

25 



positions often. Put other sets of muscles to work. 
It is is very hard for a small child to sit still for longer 
than a half-hour. Do not try to help matters by send- 
ing them out for a long recess with no older person to 
superintend. They will be sure to get into mischief. 
Let boys and girls play separately unless under super- 
vision. Pupils of higher classes may often help in this 
way, to the good of all concerned. Teach correct 
habits and discourage bad ones, as nail-biting and 
pencil-chewing. Do not punish but try original and 
better methods to control children. A little girl pouts 
and throws herself angrily into her seat. Ask, **Does 
any one know where EfRe Owen is?" "There she is," 
some one will answer. "No, that is not Effie. That 
is a cross, ugly little girl. Effie is sweet and good." 
By this time all eyes will be turned on Effie, who will 
be intent on her studies. 

A boy is disobedient, refuses to do something you 
tell him. Say, "How many of you think it right to 
mind your parents? Hold up your hands. Now, how 
many think it is right to mind your teacher?" Of 
course the boy has become interested. By the time the 
second question is answered by the school he is con- 
quered. Public opinion is against him. Think of 
other ways, and do not punish except as a last resort. 
Praise politeness and kindness. Do not stand children 
in corners or keep them in at recess. Never scold one 
before the school or allow yourself to speak in a loud, 
angry tone. Assume that they will do well and be- 
good ; expect it of them. Be firm, mean what you say, 
but be gentle and courteous. Gain and keep the re- 
spect and love of the little ones. 



26 



CHAPTER IV 
Morning Exercises 

The time given to morning exercises for little chil- 
dren should be separate and apart from the daily pro- 
gram). It should be a time when teacher and pupils 
mingle their thoughts and when they can discuss to- 
gether those high principles that lead to right living. 
After studying the nature of every little boy and girl, 
adapt and arrange your lesson so that each child will 
be impressed and helped. Perhaps you have reason to 
suspect that one is not truthful. For his benefit, tell 
the story of the beautiful city ''Whose builder and 
maker is God." Read carefully to yourself the last 
two chapters of Revelation so that you can describe 
it to the children. Tell them that no one that loveth 
and maketh a lie can enter the beautiful gates. Fol- 
low this with a story about lying. You can find one 
if you keep your eyes open. In old readers and Sun- 
day School papers are many helpful stories some of 
which may be cut out and pasted in a scrap-book ready 
for use. Accustom yourself to telling instead of read- 
ing them, and your words will have more weight, 
particularly if you learn to tell them well. After the 
story illustrating your point, discuss with the pupils 
the various ways of telling a lie. Do we always have 
to talk? Can we look a falsehood? Do we tell a lie 
when we cheat? Could you tell one by keeping silent? 

Plan your work before hand and give time and study 
to it. Don't preach to your pupils, they do not need 

27 



sermons. Let them do some of the talking, while you 
direct, watch, help, strengthen, encourage. Hold up 
before them good deeds, great lives, God's word. In- 
still into their minds from day to day, high principles, 
unselfishness, a strong love for truth, a desire to do 
right for right's sake, a willingness to be helpful, 
thoughtfulness of others. Make the hour so pleasant 
for them that they will love to come. This will cause 
them to be on time and solve the problem of tardiness. 
Let them leave their desks and gather around you 
unless your school is too large, and let it be a helpful 
happy time. It should sound the keynote for the day 
so that those who are present will go about their tasks 
willingly and cheerfully, with no words of grumbling 
or complaint. 

In your plan book write down from day to day what 
you will do the next day; or on Saturday, what you 
wish each morning of the following week. It would 
be better still to write during vacation what you will 
need each day during the session. This isn't as hard 
as it would seem and saves much trouble and worry 
later. It might be like this: for every Monday, a 
song ; Tuesday, verses ; Wednesday, a story ; Thursday, 
memory gems; Friday, a talk. The last might be 
about truthfulness, neatness, politeness, or force of 
habit. Again, you could have a song every day for a 
week, or until the children grow tired, and then 
change to stories. Plan your work but do not have 
an ironclad rule about following your plan, if you find 
the children are not attentive. Eemember always that 
"The time of interest is the time of opportunity." 
Seize your opportunity when it comes and make the 
most of it. The teacher of a first grade language class 
had once prepared a lesson for the children, and was 
just beginning, when a small dog walked into the 

28 



school room. Immediately the lesson was of minor 
importance and the dog claimed the undivided atten- 
tion of the children. The class was a large one and 
the teacher saw that if something were not done 
quickly, confusion would follow and the lesson would 
be unwritten; so allowing one little fellow to stand by 
the dog and pat him, she had the others to make sen- 
tences about him. These she wrote on the board for 
them to copy, and thus the children had a live subject 
for observation and language work. They were in- 
terested just then in that dog more than anything 
else, and it was no trouble to make sentences about 
him. If in the morning exercises, the children are 
more interested in something else than what you have 
prepared, save it for another time and use what they 
like in such a way that it will help them. A Sunday 
School teacher had a pupil who gave her much trouble. 
He was inattentive and disorderly, yet she knew he 
had a soul to be saved and she longed to help him. He 
was a boot black, and one day brought his outfit with 
him to the class, brush, blacking and all. Seeing he 
was thinking of that more than anything else, she 
took the brush in her hand and holding it up said, 
"Boys, where did this come from?'' "From the store," 
said one. "Yes, but where did the store keeper get 
It?" What is it made of? Where did it come from at 
first?" Then partly from questions and partly from 
her words they learned that it was a part of a tree that 
grew in a great forest many miles away. From this 
she led them on in their thoughts to the one that made 
the forests and the mountains and all things; the 
Father who watches over and cares for boys and girls 
that love His name. She had gained the boy's atten- 
tion, had gotten him interested, had found her oppor- 
tunity and used it. 

29 



Fill the child's mind with good things and there will 
be no room for evil. Store Bible truths and memory- 
gems in it and they will crowd out ugly thoughts. 
Those parts of the Bible most loved and best remem- 
bered are the ones which people have learned in child- 
hood. The minds of the very young are more receptive 
than those of older boys and girls, so while they are 
little, make them familiar with the Bible stories of 
Joseph, Ruth, Esther, and David. 

Vary the exercises. Don't have the same thing over 
and over. In many schools the pupils are required to 
repeat the Lord's prayer every morning in the ses- 
sion, until with some it is mere mockery. They say 
the words mechanically and with no thought of rever- 
ence. In other schools the Principal always reads a 
chapter and often adds a moral lecture. A short pas- 
sage from the word of God, read distinctly and with- 
out comment, usually carries with it more weight than 
if the teacher tries to explain its meaning. 

Perhaps someone who reads this is assistant teacher 
in some country school. If so, ask the privilege of 
having your little ones to yourself during the opening 
exercises. They should not be forced to sit with the 
main body of the school and listen to something which 
they cannot understand. 

Pupils, even little third grade children, may read 
alone from the Bible, if simple, short passages are se- 
lected for them, and if they are allowed to practice 
reading them. Some suitable ones are: Luke XII; 
22, 31. Luke XI : 1, 4. Matthew VII : 1, 5. Matthew 
V: 2, 9. Luke II: 8, 14. John XIV: 1, 6. The 
twenty-third and twenty-fourth Psalms may also be 
used this way. When the Lord's Prayer or any prayer 
is to be repeated in concert the children should be 

30 



taught to close their eyes and to be reverent. These 
words may be used by them : 

"Before my words of prayer are said 
I close my eyes and bow my head, 
That I may think to whom I pray 
That I may mean the words I say/' 
Little people like to play that they are building, or 
climbing, or running a race. After describing how a 
house is built, or how Solomon built the temple of Je- 
rusalem, say ^'Children, each one of us is building a 
house and every day adding a little to it. Are we 
building our houses well? How do we build? By our 
words, our acts, our thoughts. What are you putting 
into yours; good things or bad things?" Anything 
which appeals to the eye as well as the ear is helpful. 
If you use the blackboard draw a house, or if this is 
too difficult, simply some stones laid one upon another. 
On the foundation stone print the name Jesus and 
each day add a stone, printing on it the subject for 
that day's talk or discussion. On one print "truth," 
on another "honesty," etc. The song "Little Builders" 
is suitable for day schools as well as Sunday Schools. 
This with other charming children's songs may be 
found in "Special Songs and Services," by Mrs. M. G. 
Kennedy, published by W. A. Wilde, 25 Bromfield 
street, Boston; price 45 cents. These words may be 
recited in concert by the children : 

We are little builders 

Building every day; 

Building with the things we do 

And with the words we say. 

The idea of building may be used not only with ref- 
erence to character but the body and mind. A three- 
fold building is going on at all times, mental, moral, 

31 



and physical. Talk in this way, "Children, do you 
know that your bodies are houses ? Yes, each one here 
is building a house, a temple in which the soul may live, 
in which God's spirit may come to dwell. We must 
keep these houses in good order. The bones are the 
beams and rafters or frame work, and the eyes are 
the windows from which the soul looks. Some houses 
away down in Africa are painted black, some in the 
far west are red, and over in China they are yellow. 
In some of the islands of the sea the little children's 
souls live in brown houses but you have white ones. 
You must keep the outside of your house clean, and 
not only that, but keep the inside in nice order. How 
can you do this? Can someone tell me? Yes, that is 
right, by eating; but does that always put your house 
in order? No, sometimes it does harm. You must be 
careful not only about what you eat but when you 
eat. If you eat all through the day, any time you feel 
like it, is that good for you?" Some child may say, 
"Well, I eat whenever I feel like it and it doesn't make 
me sick." "No," you can answer, "perhaps not, but if 
you keep on doing that way till you are grown up, you 
may ruin your stomach ; that will cause you much pain 
and suffering and maybe kill you at last." Teachers 
can't put too much emphasis on the rules of health. 
It is pitiful to see how children are allowed and even 
encouraged to break them, by well meaning but 
thoughtless parents. A physician said recently that 
physiology should be taught to children with ungloved 
hands. Emphasize the importance of eating whole- 
some food at regular times, of chewing it thoroughly, 
of taking fresh air and exercise. Impress on your 
pupils the danger of intemperance or excess in any- 
thing they do; the harmful effect of overloading the 
stomach, of getting over-heated and then cooling off 

32 



suddenly. Teach the effect of tobacco and alcohol. 
Two books on the subject, written in simple language 
so that a child may understand them, will furnish 
material for morning talks through many weeks ; they 
are Child's Health Primer (American Book Com- 
pany), and Child's Book of Nature, Part II (Harper 
Brothers.) 

Again in your talks you may ask, "How can you 
build your minds, children? Yes, by studying your 
lessons, by reading things that will help you. Which 
is more important to build, in the right way, the body, 
the mind, or the heart?" Show why the last is the 
most so, though all are important and one helps the 
other. 

In an interesting talk at a Sunday School conven- 
tion Mrs. Bryner used a black board illustration of 
this kind and her idea may be used with other letters 
and other subjects by primary teachers in the secular 
schools : 



AVIOR 

CRIPTURES 

UNDAY SCHOOL 

HIKE TO 

HOW THE WAY TO KEEP 

OMEBODY 

AFE. 



She told the children of the different kinds of light 
in the world; the light set in the street at night to 
keep horses from running into something that was 
being built or a hole where the street was torn up ; of 
the headlight on the engine ; of the red light used as a 
danger signal ; of the miner's light worn on the front 
of his cap ; of the great light houses at sea and on all 
the coasts, and the lights on ships ; oil lamps, electric 

33 




lights, etc. Every one of these was shining to *'Show 
the way to keep somebody safe." She told them of the 
Savior, the light of the world; that the Savior, the 
Scriptures and the Sunday School were shining to 
"Show the way to keep somebody safe." Then the 
lesson was applied to the little ones themselves. Were 
THEY shining to help some one else? What were they 
doing for others, for their fathers and mothers, broth- 
ers and sisters, playmates and friends? If you use 
this lesson, ask, "How can you let your light shine, 
children?" Make it practical and personal, and try to 
uplift and help every child in your school room ; try to 
lead all to a higher and nobler conception of life than 
they have known before. The song "Jesus bids us 
shine" would be appropriate here. 

"Jesus bids us shine 
With a clear pure light; 
Like a little candle 
Burning in the night. 
In this world of sorrow 
We must shine 
You in your small corner 
And I in mine." 

Many letters or words may be made the basis of a 
morning lesson; for instance the word "watch." 



WATCH 



WORDS 
THOUGHTS 
DEEDS 
STEPS 



Tell the children something of this kind : "Once a 
little boy set a watch over his house, his body. He 
locked the ear door so that he couldn*t hear bad words 

34 



and watched the mouth door so he wouldn't say them, 
and so he wouldn't let in whiskey or tobacco. He 
wanted to keep his house clean. He watched the hand 
servants and kept them so busy doing good things that 
they didn't have time to do bad ones. You know Satan 
always finds work for idle hands to do. This little 
boy wanted to work for the Lord instead of Satan so 
he kept his hand servants busy. He watched his feet 
servants and made them go on errands for other peo- 
ple. When his mamma told him to run down to the 
store and buy her a spool of thread he went right 
straight; he didn't stop to play ball with some boys 
that called him. He knew his feet servants had some 
work to do. He kept the windows of his house (point- 
ing to the eye) clean and bright so that he could look 
for chances to do good. If we keep busy doing right 
we wont have time to do wrong. ' Children, watch your 
words. Don't call one little playmate stingy, another 
ugly, and another hateful. If you can't say something 
kind about people don't say anything. Watch your 
thoughts, because whatever you think about you will 
talk about. Watch your deeds. Do not do anything 
for your mother when you go home in the afternoon 
or do you pout and whine and beg her to let you go 
somewhere when she has said *No?' Watch your steps. 
Do they ever go where they ought not to go, or do 
they go to carry things to poor people and to wait on 
somebody who is tired or sick? Do you set a watch 
over your house to keep it in good order?" Use this 
verse from the Bible: ''Set a watch, O Lrord, before 
my mouth! Keep thou the door of my lips." 

Suggest to the children that they are planting gar- 
dens and ask how each one is caring for his or hers? 
Do weeds grow there or pretty flowers? Weeds are 
ugly cross words, bad lessons, laziness, selfishness, 

35 



flowers are neatness, carefulness, kindnes, obedience. 
The little ones may be seed flowers and talk of what 
they sow each day. The song from the hymnbook 
beginning: 

"Sowing in the morning, 
Sowing seeds of kindness." 

would be appropriate even for children. 

The school may be a bee hive and each child com- 
pared to a busy bee, only they mustn't buzz too much. 
''Are there any drones?" You may ask, "Is everybody 
busy?" They may be soldiers and a brisk marching 
song used. 

"We are soldiers of the school 
And we march in perfect time 
Always striving to obey each slight command. 
If we seek to do our best 
Upward will we ever climb. 
And we'll reach the highest places in the land. 

Chorus — Tramp, tramp, tramp, as we go marching. 

We are happy gay and free. 
Just step in our schoolroom bright 
We are sure you'd like to come 
For a happy lot of girls and boys are we.'* 

— Selected. 
Tune — Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching. 
Another one to be sung with the accompanying mo- 
tions is adapted to the time of "Marching through 
Georgia." 

Now we'll sing our marching song, 
We'll sing it loud and clear; 
Sing it as we love to sing , 
With voices full of cheer: 
Sing it in our schoolroom, 
36 



With our schoolmates all so dear; 
As we go marching on Monday. 

Chorus : 

March on ! march on ! 

And as we march keep time. 

March on! march on! 

As we sing our simple rhyme. 

Marching thus and singing all 

We are a happy band, 

On this bright Monday morning. 

II. Now we^ll hold the right hand up, 
And now the left we hold ; 
Now we'll draw them back and forth 
And do as we are told. 
As we march as we sing 
We'll all keep pperfect time 
On this bright Monday Morning. 

Again the children may be told that they are climb- 
ing a hill and if they go down in lessons or deportment 
one day tell them to take a fresh start and try to 
climb up the next. Say to them, "Don't look back, it 
only wastes time. Never mind if you missed yester- 
day, do better today." Children need encouragement. 
Help them over the rough places. To the tune "Oh! 
come, come away" these words may be sung : 

Oh I come let us climb 

On this glad Tuesday morning. 

With faces bright 

And hearts so light 

Oh! come let us climb. 

Lessons are hard but we will try 

37 



To climb the hill ; and by and by 
We'll reach the top so high. 
Oh! come let us climb. 

Teach children not to be cruel but to be kind to 
animals. Read them "Black Beauty" and "Beautiful 
Joe." Tell the story of "Daniel Webster's First 
Speech," or any you find helpful for the purpose. 

Make use of the blackboard often. Draw steps, or 
a ladder, letting them supply the words to write on 
each round as they climb higher towards true char- 
acter building. Draw daisies and turn the round cen- 
ters into faces showing smiling, sad, or frowning 
countenances and ask which they are like. 

Draw a bee-hive on the board and put on or near it 
the names of the busy studious pupils. Do not put the 
names of the drones. Call attention to the good, not 
the bad. 

The children may be taught the names of the twelve 
Apostles by allowing them to sing this little verse : 
Tune — I want to be an angel. 

"Of all the twelve Apostles 

Our Savior gives the names, 

John, Philip, Andrew, Peter, 

Bartholomew and James, 

Thaddeus, Thomas, Matthew, 

Judas Iscariot, 

Judas fell 

James, Simon, and then 

Matthias, chose by lot." 
For a morning prayer this song is pretty: 

"Father we thank thee for the night, 
And for the pleasant morning light. 
For rest and food and loving care 
38 



And all that makes the day so fair. 
Help us to do the things we should. 
To be to others kind and good. 
In all our work and all our play, 
To grow more loving every day." 

The tune, "Stand up, stand up for Jesus," may be 
with a little change adapted to these words. 

For teaching the geography of the Holy Land draw 
on the board the map : 




39 



Show that the right side is a straight line about four 
times as long as the line across the top, and about 
twice as long as the southern boundary ; that the bend 
in the coast line is apposite the Sea of Galilee; and 
that the Dead Sea is shaped like a mitten with the 
thumb turned to the east. These words may be recited 
as the drawing is made on the board : 

"The slanting coast line here we find 
And bring it first before the mind. 
The Jordan River next we see 
Then Mermon Lake and Galilee. 
Then on and on the Jordan flows, 
It turns and twists but on it goes. 
Reaching at last the great Dead Sea, 
Far south of the blue Galilee. 
We westward look from Palestine 
And there beyond the long coast line 
The Mediterranean Sea appears 
Called the Great Sea in early years." 

(May be sung to the tune "Maryland My Maryland.") 

This is taken from an article in an old copy of the 
Sunday School Times. A whole song about the Holy 
Land, words and music, may be found in "Songs for 
God's Little Ones," published by R. R. McCabe & Co.. 
166 S. Clinton street, Chicago. This teaches the chil- 
dren to locate the cities, mountains and seas in a way 
which they enjoy. 

"Sunshine" is suggestive for opening exercises. 
Talk of the good it does to trees, vegetables, flowers ; 
to animals and to people. Make "A visit to Sunshine 
land" with the children. Discuss how they may 

40 



"Make sunshine in the house 
When there is none without." 

Use a prism to throw the colors of the spectrum on 
the wall. Let the children sing, "Good morning merry 
sunshine," "Let a little sunshine in," "There is sun- 
shine in my heart today," or 

"Are you shining, shining. 
Shining now for Jesus 

Shining every moment 
Shining all the time? 
Are you shining, shining, 
Shining now for Jesus 
Shining with a light sublime?" 

For the first song, or as the children come in, sing 
this: 

"Good morning dear children 
Good morning to all 
The clock points the hour 
And we come at its call. 
We're happy in work and 
We're happy in play. 
Then hurrah! then hurrah! 
For each happy day." 

On the birthdays of noted people the exercises may 
be about themi, and on Valentine's day mottoes may 
be given to the children written on little slips of paper 
for each child to learn. Have these suit the various 
natures. 

For the little girl who frowns, write : 
"As welcome as sunshine 
In every place 
Is the beautiful smile 
Of a good natured face." 

41 



The boy who lacks perseverance may have: 

"All that's great and good is done 
Just by patient trying." 

The child who does not like to finish things may have 

"If a task is once begun 
Never leave it till it is done." 

Others that may be useful are : 

"Beautiful hands are those that do 
Deeds that are noble, good and true." 

"Do your best, your very best, 
And do it every day 
Little boys and little girls 
That is the wisest way." 

"Blessed are the peace makers." 

"There's work for me 
There's work for you, 
Something for each of us 
Now to do." 

"Whatever is worth doing at all 
Is worth doing well." 

"Never put off till tomorrow 
That which you can do today." 

"He that is good at making excuses 
Is seldom good at anything else." 

"Do all the good you can 
In all the ways you can 
To all the people you can 
Just as long as you can." 



42 



CHAPTER V 

Reading 

One of the hardest things in school work is to take a 
class of beginners and teach them to read, and yet the 
task is a pleasant one. Their minds are full of ideas 
which they cannot express; all the world is new to 
them; they are sweet, innocent, full of wonder and 
eager to learn. What could be more interesting than 
to be with them from day to day and help to draw out 
and develop their powers? How can we grow impa-. 
tient with such little things and scold one when he does 
not know his lesson ? 

A child can't learn his letters all in a minute or even 
a day, any more than a grown person can learn the 
Greek language in the same length of time. The al- 
phabet is as hard to the child as the letters would be 
to one totally unfamiliar with it. The letters must be 
learned of course, and not until they are learned can 
the child take the book and study out the lesson for 
himself. Teaching, however, must be a very gradual 
process. Sight reading phonics, and writing should 
all go together and the letters be learned incidentally. 
It is just as reasonable to introduce a child to twenty- 
six people at one time and expect him to remember all 
of their names, as to force on him the whole alphabet 
at first. When the letters are taught, there should be 
some idea to fix each one in mind. Say that one^is 
little "a." When she has her cap on, she says "a," 
and when she has a straight mark over her head she 
says "a." Again you may name one little Mr. "b" 

43 



and say that when he is grown he looks like this, "B." 
The letters "o," "s," and "k" are easily learned. The 
first is the way the mouth looks when it says "oh," 
the second curls about like a snake, and says what the 
snake says, "s" (giving the sound only). The "k," 
poor old fellow, has a broken back, and when '*c" 
sounds like "k" we put a collar on him thus : "-c." 

Such little devices are always helpful in teaching 
children the alphabet, but the best results are reached 
by beginning with the sounds of letters and with sight 
reading. These two methods are called respectively 
the phonic and the word method. Both should be 
taught from the start but the lesson should be so ar- 
ranged that instead of having one long period the 
children should be taught at several different times. 
Early in the morning spend fifteen or twenty minutes 
on the word method, then later when the children have 
had, for a change of occupation, number work, busy 
work, or play, call them up again for a short drill on 
phonics. The oftener they can recite the faster they 
will learn, provided the lessons are made interesting 
and the time given to each one is short. In other 
words teach beginners in "broken doses" instead of 
spending thirty or forty minutes on one recitation. 

Word MfETHOD or Sight Reading. It is not neces- 
sary for the children to have books for the first two 
weeks, though many excellent teachers prefer that 
they should. A chart may be used or where there is 
no chart, one Primer or First Reader owned by the 
teacher can with the help of the blackboard work be 
made sufficient for the needs of all. Perhaps the first 
word suggested by the book or chart is "hen." Show 
the picture, get the children to talk. Ask, "Mary, 
have you ever seen a hen? Was it like this one?" 

44 



After they have become interested and you have told 
what you know on the subject, tell them that you will 
make another picture of a hen and then write the word 
in plain letters on the board. Ask them to look at it 
carefully, so they will know it the next time they see 
it. Erase and write some other word, as "dog" and 
ask "Is this hen?" Erase, and write another word and 
another, asking each time, "Is this 'hen' ?" 

Then write "hen" again and see if they will recog- 
nize it. Write a sentence containing it and let them 
point it out. To know this one word at sight is enough 
for the first lesson. If you have perception cards hang 
the one containing "hen" in a conspicuous place where 
the children can see it during the day. These cards 
may be made of stiif white paper and the writing 
should be large and very plain. A sharpened stick or 
the point of a pen staff may serve for a pen, and black 
ink should be used, or they may be written with a soft 
crayon pencil. If prepared during vacation and those 
words written which are to be taught from day to day, 
they will be found very helpful. Don't attempt to 
teach the children at first that h-e-n spells "hen" but 
simply to know that word as a whole whenever and 
wherever they see it. 

Next day take a new word suggested by book or 
chart. It may be "boy" or "cat" or "ball." If it is the 
latter and you can make it convenient to do so, show 
a ball. Go through a similar process to that of the pre- 
vious day. Ask about the color, size and shape of the 
ball. What is it made of and what is it for? Write 
"ball" on the board and let the little ones learn it by 
sight. Hang up the perception card which has "ball" 
on it, and use the word in sentences, allowing the chil- 
dren to point it out. Review "hen" and see if they re- 
member it. On the third day take a new word and 

45 



proceed in the same manner. Incidentally bring in 
other words as "the" and "see." Write sentences as: 
"I see the hen. I see a hen. I see the ball. I see a 
ball." One new word each day with an occasional out- 
side one, as "and," "has" or "an" is enough to teach. 
Always review the words previously learned. Keep 
the blackboard drills up and form your letters care- 
fully, remembering that they serve as models. For a 
part of the busy work give each day the new word 
learned, for a writing lesson, and when it isn't too hard 
let the children draw what they write about. The imi- 
tation-may be poor but let them make the attempt. 
Drawing aids in forming and retaining ideas. Make 
haste slowly and don't look for results too soon. It 
takes eight or nine weeks for the foundation to be 
laid and when that part of the work has been well 
done, success will crown your efforts. Use script let- 
ters during this period and if each lesson is thoroughly 
mastered by the pupils, the transition from script to 
print will be easy. 

Have word hunts. Before school put on the board a 
number of words which the children have learned and 
ask Mary to point to one which she knows. Let James 
name one and erase it. Have another child show you 
one and so continue until the words are all gone. Draw 
a ladder and write a word on each round. Then tell 



HEN 



MAN 
BIRD 
DOG 
MAT 
EGG 



46 



one of the children to start at the bottom and see if he 
can go to the top without falling off, which means of 
course to call the bottom word at sight, the next, the 
next, etc. If one fails have another to try. 

Draw a tree with fruit and play the words are birds. 
As the words are named let the birds fly away, (erase 
the words.) Do not play shooting the birds for boys 
are too ready to do that. Teach kindness to all dumb 
creatures. 




Draw a table and write the words learned, in the 
dishes. 



1\ 



In this as in other studies make play of the work 
and invent games that will help in teaching. Hang 
out all of the perception cards that have been taught 
and ask one child to see how many he can name. See 

47 



who can name all without a mistake or who can name 
the most. If you do not use the large cards write the 
words that have been learned on little pieces of stiff 
paper about an inch by an inch and a half and keep 
them, in a box. Some day for review hold them up one 
at a time and let the children tell their names. Hand 
the little card to the one who answers first and who- 
ever gets the most wins the game. These cards may 
be used in another way. Supply each child with 
enough to arrange sentences at his desk. 

Write new combinations on the board continually, 
composed of words familiar to the class. Even when 
the stock is small, sentences innumerable can be made. 
Suppose they have learned ''boy," *'ball," "see," "the," 
"apple," "has," "I," and "and," you can make 

I see a boy. 

I see a ball. 

1 see the boy. 

I see the ball. 

I see the apple. 

I see the boy and the ball. 

I see the boy and the apple. 

The boy has the ball. 

The boy has the apple. 
Thus by changing the order of the words the word- 
pictures are more impressed on the child's mind. 

The Phonetic Method. For this branch of the 
work teach the sounds, not the name of letters. Teach 
the sound of "f" by putting the upper front teeth on 
the lower lip and forcing the breath through. Teach 
the sound of "m" by telling that the cow says "m." 

Close the lips and force the voice through the nose 
for this. Give only one or two sound-names a day, 
teaching the easier consonants and long vowels first. 
Make up little things to illustrate how these sounds 

48 



are made, as : "Once there was a little boy who lived 
near a railroad track and he had a pet dog that used to 
bark at the cat and make her very angry. He would 
say r-r-r-r-r and she would strike at him with her paw 
and say f-f-f. Ask the children what it was the dog 
said and then write the letter '*r" on the board. In 
the same way teach the sound "f." Erase and then 
write one of the letters again and ask "Is this what the 
dog said?" Next day continue the story, as: "One 
day an old cow was on the track and she said m-m-m. 
Away down the track was the station and there the 
little boy saw a train. The smoke was coming up and 
the train was saying p-p-p." (Press the lips firmly 
together and force them open suddenly for this 
sound.) "The boy was so afraid that the train would 
run over the poor old cow that he called his dog and 
told him to go and drive her away. He said s-s-s to 
the dog. Just then the train left the station and 
sounded this way, ch-ch-ch-ch ; and the dog said r-r-r-r 
and drove the cow away." Connect these sounds with 
the things which represent them so that wherever the 
child sees "ch" for instance, if he can't think what it 
stands for, remind him that it is what the train said. 
Any such story or stories will serve the purpose, and 
by catching and holding the child's attention will fix 
in his memory that which you are trying to teach him, 
the sounds which the letters represent. The letters 
"sh" should be taught as one sound; it is what a 
mother says when she wants you to be quiet and not 
wake her baby. The bee says z-z-z. The old gander 
says th-th-th. 

There is no special order in which to teach the 
sounds of letters except to teach the easiest ones first, 
f, 1, m, r, s, sh, th, ch, etc. Long vowels are easier 
than short ones and of the latter, short "i" is the 

49 



hardest to learn and should be taught last. Use the 
blackboard a great deal and put there from day to day 
not only the new sound to be taught but also the ones 
already learned. Pointing from one to another have 
the children to give the sounds and thus form v^ords. 
From the list f, m, 1, r, a, i, o, u, t, ch, s, sh, may be 
made ail, mail, rail, sail, fame, lame, tame, same, roll, 
toll, soul, mole, and others. If the syllable **ing'' be 
added to the list and taught as one sound "ing," they 
can form longer words as 

ailing failing sailing 

ring sing ringing 

In teaching these, remember that the object is not 
to teach the children to spell words nor to know them 
by sight, but simply to know instantly the sound which 
each letter represents, so that when new words are 
presented and marked, they can tell how to pronounce 
them even when ignorant of their meaning. 

Families of Words. As soon after beginning as 
you think expedient teach the families of words. There 
is the **cat" family; at, bat, rat, chat, fat, hat, flat, 
mat, Nat, pat, rat, sat, and that, all belonging to it. Set 
copies of these words in the composition books, 
straight across the page, or down on one side, so that 
the words which the children write may be on a line 
with your copies instead of under them. Write "at" 
on the board in a number of places and then ask, 
"Mary, what shall I turn one of these words into? All 
right, what must I put in front of it? Yes, that is 
right; Til put what the dog says, *r.' Now we have 
r — at, rat. Suppose I want to make *hat' what must 
I put in front of this? (Point to another *at.') Fll 
write what the dog says when he has been running 
and is very tired, 'h-h-h.' (Give sound only.) Now 

50 



we have h — at *hat/ ** Teach the **pan" family, an, 
Ann, can, Dan, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van. Again 
say, "If this (writing on the board) says *ap* what 
does this say?" (writing m — ap.) Teach "ing'* as 
one sound and writing it put different letters in front, 
thus making ring, sing, cling, sting, wing, etc. 




Draw an umbrella. Write on it the word "all." 
Above put the sounds you have taught to the children. 
Play they are rain drops and let children make words 
with them, as call, ball, fall. 




In the Second Year teach children to use the dia- 
critical marks, to some extent, and call attention to the 
silent letters. To know and to be able to use the marks 
helps children in both spelling and reading. It makes 

51 



them independent. They do not have to ask: *'What 
does this spell?" but can find out for themselves. Take 
''field" for example. A well-taught child will know 
when he sees the markings that "i" is silent and "e" 
is long, and, without hesitation, will give the sounds 
"f-e-l-d" and say "field." 

For busy work allow pupils to illustrate their les- 
sons occasionally, by drawing and paper cutting. 

As to the manner of conducting a reading class 
in the second, third or fourth grade, no two can be 
taught exactly in the same way. Some classes advance 
more rapidly than others and study harder. One 
method will cause pupils to be interested and enthu- 
siastic for awhile, and they they will grow tired, and 
a change will be beneficial. Sometimes they like to 
have head and foot, and trap each other in the old- 
fashioned way, and some grow angry and display 
temper, while others are discouraged because, though 
they study hard, they are poor readers. In most mod- 
ern and progressive schools this method is no longer 
in practice, and yet many excellent teachers like it 
because they say it stimulates pupils to study. One 
great objection to it is that pupils take up time, which 
should be spent on the lesson, discussing where they 
belong in the class, who is head, who is next? etc. 

In reading classes give short lessons, and require 
the pupils to learn them thoroughly. Each day go 
over with the children the words for the next day's les- 
son. Teach them to call these at sight; most of the 
words in the readers at the head of each lesson, are put 
there for sight words, and should be taught as such. 
If they are to be spelled off the book, choose only the 
easiest ones. Many words, which a child can learn 
readily at sight, would be difficult for him to spell. 
Teach children to read naturally and with expression. 

52 



In order that they may do this, see that they under- 
stand what they have. Don't allow them to read in a 
jerky or sing-song fashion, but smoothly, and with 
proper emphasis. 

One method, sometimes employed in reading classes, 
is to let a child read until he mispronounced a word, 
when the next pupil takes it up where the first left off. 
This one reads till he misses, when a third begins, and 
so the reading continues around the class. This forces 
children to pay close attention, because, if one does not 
see the mistake made by the one above him, he forfeits 
his time to read until his turn comes again. If the 
class is small, the first one to see the mistake each 
time may begin reading. Again, a pupil may read a 
verse or several verses, if they are short, and when 
he has finished, the teacher may tell the mistakes. A 
half-page may be given to each, or a page, and, at the 
close of the lesson, tell who made the smallest number 
of mistakes. If unusual words occur, talk about them, 
ask the meaning and use them in sentences. The 
length of the lesson and the way in which it should be 
taught, must be determined by the size of the class 
and by the length of time allowed for recitation. If 
you adopt a plan, and find it does not work, try 
another. 

Go over many times the words at the head of the 
lessons so that children may be thoroughly familiar 
with them. Teach them as sight words only. Intro- 
duce word games when you think it will help pupils 
to learn more readily. 

Occasionally have reviews, and allow each child to 
choose a lesson, or a part of a lesson which he likes 
especially to read. Have supplementary readers and 
lessons from other books, or from reading slips cut 
from school journals and pasted on card board to make 

53 



them durable. A composition may sometimes be used 
as a reading lesson. Let the children occasionally il- 
lustrate what they read about. „ Even if crude, the 
drawings will show the child's idea, and the lesson will 
be more interesting to him. 

Try to conduct your class in such a way that all will 
pay attention and be ready to read when called upon. 
Rewards prove an incentive to good lessons. Give a 
little card or badge for each perfect recitation, and 
when a certain number of these have been collected, 
give a Perry picture or reward of some kind. 

There are two objects sought when we teach a child 
to read. The more important is that we wish him to 
learn to read understandingly the printed page, so that 
if for any reason his school life should be interrupted, 
he could go on with his education alone. The other 
object sought is to teach the child to read orally with 
expression and fluency. 

To insure correct emphasis give drills on some sen- 
tence read in different ways, as : This is a white dog. 
This IS a white dog. This is a white dog. This is a 
white DOG. 

Reading is an art which may be acquired by all. 



54 



CHAPTER VI 
Spelling 

Oral spelling alone is not sufficient, written spelling 
alone is not sufficient, but both should be taught to 
children. Adopt some method of conducting the reci- 
tation, and, as long as it works well, follow it, but if 
the interest wanes, try another. Have the children to 
bring the written words to the class, copied from the 
book, and require that the work shall be neat and the 
letters carefully formed. Each pupil may have these 
in a book, tablet, or spelling blank. After they have 
been carefully looked over and graded by the teacher, 
the children may spell the lesson orally and write it in 
the class. 

Blackboard work is helpful; an objection to this, 
however, is that pupils may be tempted to copy from 
each other. This may be avoided by giving one word 
to the first, third, fifth, and seventh pupils, etc., and 
the next word to the other half of the class. See that 
the letters of the words on the board are properly 
formed; that they don't "jump up'* off the lines or 
"run down hill;" that the small ones are uniform in 
height, and the large ones likewise. Teach children 
to dot the i's and to cross the t's, and to let their work 
present a trim, clean appearance. If twelve words 
are to be written, let them make twelve lines and num- 
ber them. Sometimes it will be found convenient to 
have one or more of the larger pupils draw these 
lines on the board ready for the class. 

Give short lessons and require the pupils to study 

55 



them well before they are called upon to recite. If all 
of the members of a class come up with bad lessons, it 
is a good sign that those lessons are too long, and, 
therefore, too hard. Teach the diacritical marks, not 
all at once but a few at a time. A knowledge of their 
meaning helps one not only to spell words but to pro- 
nounce new ones. In order to teach these marks learn 
them thoroughly yourself. You may think they are 
not important but they are. Give drills on them. Ask 
the children to give you a word with a long ''a" as 
''fail," "tame." Then ask for those containing long 
"e," as *'mete," "beat," "me." In the same way take 
the short vowels, and then "a" with two dots over it, 
as in "arm;" and two dots under it as in the word 
"all," etc. 

Make a chart of the sounds learned. Teach a sound 
thoroughly before going to another. 

Write on the board new and unfamiliar words and 
see if the pupils can tell by their marks what they are. 
Have reviews often, and have one child write a word 
occasionally while another marks it and still another 
pronounces it. Go over one day the lesson for the 
next day, making the children call out the words with- 
out help if possible. Have written reviews also. If a 
word seems to be particularly hard call very special 
attention to it. Put it on the board in a conspicuous 
place. Have it discussed, erased, written again, 
marked and spelled a number of times orally. 

To teach sight words, draw a brick arch and on each 
brick write a word. To pass through the arch the 
child must know every word. Draw a snow fort. Have 
sides and let each side try to capture the fort. Each 
child who can say all of the words written on the fort, 
scores a point. When all of the children on a side 
can say all of the words, the fort is captured. 

56 



Call attention to the silent letters in words. Write 
the word ''lame." Say that this letter says *'!" (giv- 
ing sound), this one says ''a," this one ''m," and this 
one (e) doesn't say anything. Let's rub it off. Does 
the word still spell ''lame?" Yes, it spells "lame" 
even after we rub out the "e." Let children write 
their own names and mark them. This is a great help 
in teaching the diacritical marks. 

Let them give vowel sounds in their own and each 
other's names. You give sounds and let them guess 
which name it is, as E a (Lena), a (James), a i 
(Mary), a e (Albert), I a e (Idalee), etc. 

We learn how to spell words by seeing them, by 
hearing them and by pronouncing them. The sense of 
sight must be appealed to and the sense of hearing. 
Besides this the children must be taught how to use 
the lips and tongue in making the various sounds and 
combinations of sounds. The sight method must be 
combined with the phonetic, for both are important. 
There are people who can spell orally almost any word 
you give them, who make frequent mistakes in writ- 
ing, and when we reflect that by a person's spelling he 
is often judged, we realize how necessary it is to spell 
correctly. When one is examined for a certificate to 
teach, or for the Civil Service, the amount of his edu- 
cation is determined by his spelling and his manner of 
expressing himself. The same is true when a letter of 
application is written for a situation of almost any 
kind. 

Teach children to pronounce distinctly. Do not let 
them say "wite" for "white," "wot" for "what," "ask" 
for "asked," and "fo teen" for "fourteen." 

In the class it is good training for the pupils to let 
them correct each other's work. It teaches them to be 

57 



observant and to know what is right. Then too it stim- 
ulates those who write badly to do better when they 
see the neat pages of others. When you give a word to 
be spelled do not repeat it. Train the children to be 
attentive, and to listen. Give it out distinctly and 
clearly and require the class to be quiet so that all may 
hear. Dictation lessons are helpful. Give out a whole 
sentence to be spelled and if a pupil misses a word or 
spells the wrong word, pass it on. 

Seeing a word often, does not necessarily teach a 
person how to spell it. In a large school fifty-four 
pupils were examined in Geography. The papers were 
good, some of them excellent, but the word "Geogra- 
phy" written at the top of each paper was spelled in 
twenty-seven different ways. 

A game for the spelling-class suitable for Friday 
afternoon is called the "Think-quick game." Require 
the answers to be given at once, without a moment's 
hesitation. 

If one child fails pass the question quickly to 
another. Tell one to spell a word that rhymes with 
"band," with "lame," or with "tree." Ask such ques- 
tions as: How many letters are in your last name? 
Your first? Spell a word beginning with "r," with 
"t," with "h." Spell a word with four letters ; another; 
another. Spell the name of a color ; a tree ; a flower ; 
a person. Take away the first letter from "blend," 
what word will be left? Take away another letter 
and what have we? etc. 

A different game may be played with a box of ana- 
grams which you can make yourself, by putting letters 
on little half-inch squares of cardboard or pasteboard. 

Holding up an "a" say, "Who can spell a word begin- 
ning with "a?" Hand it to the child who gives one 
first. The pupil who gets the greatest number of cards 

58 



wins. Other games may be invented with the ana- 
grams which are useful for busy-work also, the chil- 
dren forming words with them at their desks. 

In many schools those who are in the first grade are 
not allowed to have spelling-books, but are taught to 
spell the words in their Readers. When this is done 
the teacher should use discretion about the words she 
gives to be learned "by heart." Some of those in the 
Readers are intended as sight words only and are too 
difficult for the children to spell. Choose those that are 
adapted to the powers of the child mind, and during 
the preparation period, the first six or eight weeks of a 
child's school life, he should not spell at all. If a 
spelling book is used in the first grade use a simple 
one for beginners such as Pollard's Synthetic Speller 
for Primary Classes. 

Call attention every now and then to words that 
are alike in sound but different in meaning and spell- 
ing, as: 



hear — here 
see — sea 
our — hour 
their — there 
flour — flower 
blue — blew 
to 



too 



four — fore 
meat — meet 
pail — pale 
buy— by 
wood — would 
nose — knows 
two 



pare pair pear 

Mark in your book the words missed by the class 
from time to time, and use your spare moments in 
reviewing them, or have a special lesson on them. 

Teach spelling" not only in the class, but in all the 
written work which you give the children. If they 
bring original examples in Arithmetic, if they write a 
list of places mentioned in the Geography lesson, or of 

59 



persons and events in the History, caution them to be 
careful about spelling. In the language work insist 
upon this, and if mistakes are made at first, call atten- 
tion to them and have the pupils to try again. Offer a 
reward of some kind to the one who can write a letter 
with no mistakes in spellng or punctuation. For busy 
work give to the children copies to write, containing 
the words which they have missed in spelling. Some 
children have words which they invariably get wrong, 
and it is only by repeated efforts and continual re- 
minders that you can teach them to spell these words 
correctly. 

Give oral work and written work. Have children 
to copy into tablets all misspelled words to be used 
on review days. 




60 



CHAPTER VII 

Numbers 

Arrange the schedule so that the number work and 
Arithmetic classes shall come early in the day, when 
the mind is fresh and capable of clear thinking. 

Make the recitation short ; young children should not 
be forced to concentrate their thoughts on one subject 
for long at a time. During the first year of a child's 
school-life, the lesson should not last longer than 
fifteen minutes. 

It is the abstract character of much number work 
that makes it hard for children, hence we should seek 
to make it concrete. Supply yourself with materials 
for counting, such as tooth-picks, shoe-pegs, corn or 
empty spools, and have a standard Primary Arithmetic 
or Teacher's Manual, such as Wentworth's, published 
by Ginn & Co., Boston. For still better work you 
should have in addition to these, some toy money, sev- 
eral rulers, and tin measuring cups, pint, quart, half- 
gallon and gallon. 

Wtih a class of beginners teach the children during 
the first month to count ten, and show them the various 
combinations of numbers. Begin with four. 

3+1=4 

1+3=4 

2-^2=4 

4—3=1 

4—2=2 

4—1=3 

4^2=2 

1/2 of 4=2 
61 



Before going to a new number see that they know 
this in all of its combinations, then take up six, seven, 
etc. From the first, teach addition, subtraction, mul- 
tiplication, division and fractions, making all simple 
and attractive. 

Let the pupils advance as rapidly as they wish, but 
be careful not to tax their minds. Usually they are 
not more than seven years old and too often only six. 
Children should not be sent to school before they are 
seven, but if parents will send them at five and six 
years of age, don't injure their little minds with what 
is beyond them, but let them simply come to the class 
and pick up what they can from the others. 

Make the members of the class find out answers for 
themselves with the help of others. If there is plenty 
of blackboard space let them illustrate when they like, 
with lines, circles, or anything which they can draw. 

Vary the lessons. If the children grow tired of the 
spools, use the grains of corn awhile, when these lose 
their charm get out the tooth-picks, and when the nov- 
elty has worn off from them the toy money will be 
useful. Occasionally have a store and sell imaginary 
articles, making the pupils give the right amount of 
change. The money may be made of pasteboard, stiff 
paper, or old tablet backs, using the real coins for 
patterns. 

Let the play element enter largely into your number 
work, it is a great help and causes the class to take a 
lively interest in the lessons. Give some days to ask- 
ing questions of this kind : 

How many boys are in this class? 

How many girls? 

How many children? 

How many fingers have James and Tom? 

How many eyes have all of you? 

62 



How many windows are in this room ? 

How many doors ? 

During the second month use the ruler as the basis 
of your lessons. Teach what it is for, how long it is, 
and how many inches are in a foot. Have the children 
to draw lines with it and then to make clear, correct, 
oral statements, as: "I have drawn a line one foot 
long,*' or "1 have drawn three lines and each is one 
foot long." 

Let them try to make a line one foot long without 
the ruler and then test it to see if it is correct. Try 
the same with the inch measure and let them make 
figures of this kind : 

A c □ zi V 

making each line an inch long. Pointing from one to 
another have them to tell how many one inch lines are 
in each figure. 

Do not try to have every child do as much as every 
other child, and do not suppose that one is stupid if he 
doesn't learn Arithmetic readily. All can learn it if 
they are properly taught, though some are quicker 
than others. As a rule children like it in the first year 
and continue to do so unless advanced too rapidly. 
When a boy or girl hates mathematics it is because 
he or she did not have a good start and does not under- 
stand what has gone before. Such a pupil should have 
extra help and encouragement, and if lessons are still 
too hard, should be put back. It is doing a child the 
greatest injustice to force him to keep up with things 
beyond his comprehension. When you take a new 
school, see what each pupil knows about numbers be- 
fore assigning the grade. Children will tell you they 

63 



are in the fourth grade sometimes when they really 
belong in the second. It is easier to advance a pupil 
if he is classified too low, than to put back one who 
is classified too high. 

Teach the symbols early : H X -^ and = ; chil- 
dren learn them easily. No two classes can be taught 
exactly in the same way, some can advance more rap- 
idly than others. Your teaching must be guided by the 
progress made. After children in the first year have 
gone as far as the number nine, such a variety of 
combinations may be made that it is a good plan to 
give each child nine counters, and tell him to make 
as many examples as possible with them. Have the 
children to put these on the board, or in tablets, and 
tell them to see who can make the most. There will be 
3+3+3=9 9—3=6 9--3+3 

4+2+3=9 9—2=7 y, of 9=3 

5+2+2=9 9—4=5 5+4=9 
3x2+3=9 3X3=9 6+3=9 

and many ohers which will suggest themselves to chil- 
dren. 

Again, let them say in concert, or separately, as you 
illustrate with the spools: 

1 and 8 are 9 

2 and 7 are 9 

3 and 6 are 9 

4 and 5 are 9 

5 and 4 are 9 

6 and 3 are 9 

7 and 2 are 9 

8 and 1 are 9 

Teach them to write this table at first with help, 

64 



then without. Give blackboard drills by having ready 
on the board figures under each other, as 

Add 2 2 3 5 6 8 8 

3 4 3 5 18 2 

and point rapidly from one to another till the pupils 
have learned to give the answers at a glance. Don't 
allow them to say *'two and three makes five," but sim- 
ply "five," **six," "seven," etc. Let them give the 
answer only. Similar drills can be used for subtrac- 
tion and multiplication. 

As, during one month you have used the foot and 
inch measure as a basis for lessons, so later in the ses- 
sion you can teach about pints, quarts, and gallons, 
using the genuine tin cup and buckets, if convenient; 
if not, they m.ay drawn on the board. It doesn't mat- 
er if you are not skillful with the chalk. If you make 
your meaning clear that is all that is necessary. 

For teaching fractions an apple is an excellent ob- 
ject. 

Show how 1/2 is equal to 2-4, and % to 2-6. Busy 
work is very helpful in number teaching. Supply each 
child with a little box of shoe-pegs, beans, or kinder- 
garten straws, and let him arrange these in groups of 
two, three or four. Take the composition books home 
with you on Friday, and put down enough examples 
to keep the little ones busy till the next Friday. They 
are very fond of what are called string examples, as 

3+4+6+1+2+3+8+3=? 
65 



Put some with the minus sign, and others under each 
other, to be added, as 



1 


2 


6 


5 


6 


2 


4 


5 


5 


2 


3 


3 


4 


3 


2 


4 


6 


6 


3 


8 


2 


1 


1 


1 


2 



In this work make your figures plain, and make them 
large, because children are inclined to make theirs 
large, and yours should be in keeping with them. 

Vary your copies with multiplication, division, and 
some in addition, like these : 

321 415 334 415 

123 13 102 160 



The children may be given copies to show the three 
ways in which number can be written : 
12 3 4 

one two three four 
I II III IV 

or they may be told to write the figure one and draw 
one apple, to write the figure *'two'* and draw two 
apples, etc. 

12 3 

If allowed to color the apples, oranges, cherries, or 
flags which they draw, they will be delighted. Six 
colors may be bought for four cents at racket stores, 

66 



and if a teacher has even one set they will be found 
helpful. If the children can buy their own colors, it 
is better. 

For a change, put little examples on the board be- 
forehand, every day for a week or more, and let the 
children pass at once to the places assigned, so that 
no time will be lost, and all will be working at once. 
If you are too busy to put this work on the board your- 
self, there can always be found some boy or girl in a 
higher grade who will be glad to do it for you. If your 
class is large, so that you find it difficult to get to all 
who need help, these same older boys and girls make 
good assistants and enjoy playing teacher. Examples 
on the board may be utilized in another way. If you 
have oral work during the recitation, that on the board 
may serve to keep the children busy during the period 
which follows. 

In the first year teach a little of the multiplication 
table. The second, third and fifth lines are easily 
learned. Classes vary, sometimes the children are 
eager to go beyond these, and as long as these are 
interested, and you have short lessons, they may be 
allowed to do so. If you have a chart with the table 
on it, let them study and copy the first lines. 

Ask a little girl how many letters are in her name? 
In her father's name ? In the name of the town where 
she lives? Ask how many cents in a dime? A quar- 
ter? A half dollar? A dollar? How many days are 
there in a week? In two weeks? In three weeks? 
How many eggs make a dozen? Three dozen? Four 
dozen ? 

Don't think that you are compelled to follow a text- 
book too closely, or teach exactly as some other teacher 

67 



does. Be original, use your own ijieas, your own meth- 
ods. Prepare examples of your own, and let the chil- 
dren make up others. Whenever a thing is difficult 
for a child to understand, make it plain and simple. 
Illustrate much with objects or chalk. If one cannot 
undersand that five and six make eleven draw five 
lines and six lines, five circles and six circles, or show 
five spools and six spools. If the example is twelve 
less seven, let one draw twelve marbles, rub out seven 
and tell how many are left. 

Have children to make their figures plainly and 
carefully. Don't allow curls and flourishes to the 2's 
and 3's nor let the small horizontal line of the figure 
5 be made separate from the other part. Teach them 
to be accurate. If a line is to be made an inch long, 
let it be an inch long, not an inch and a quarter. 

Review frequently, so that you may be sure the 
pupils are learning. Mere information is not what 
you wish to give children, but power to think for 
themselves. "Recitation is for the sake of the pupil's 
effort, not the teacher's, and whatever display of 
energy there may be must come from them." 

It is very important that children get a good start in 
numbers. If they do not understand everything in 
going over it, they cannot master what comes after. 
In teaching numbers by progressive stages, be sure to 
teach one thoroughly before going to the next. Make 
exam.ples in many different ways and let children occa- 
sionally bring in original examples which they have 
illustrated by means of drawing. In the first grade 
one would be on this order: "If Lucy had sixteen 
marbles and gave Tom eight, how many would she 
have left?" A first grade pupil could not do this, of 
course, until toward the close of the session. He could 
answer the number part of it long before he could 

68 



write it out. When one is able to originate and write 
such examples, it teaches not only number work, but is 
helpful for spelling, language and drawing. Let the 
sixteen marbles be drawn, and a line made through 
eight of them, and under all put 16 — 8=8. 

Draw a ladder and put examples on the rounds. 
Play that the children are firemen and see how quickly 
they can go up the ladder, not reading the figures 
aloud but giving the answers only. 

In the second year, children can easily compose and 
illustrate examples. If one writes, "A watermelon 
costs 20 cents, what will four cost?" let the four melons 
be drawn and colored green, and 20 cents written 
under each. In larger figures, under the whole thing, 
let the child write: 4x20=80. Reward those children 
who have neat, careful work by putting their papers 
on the wall, or keeping them for public exhibition. 

Let children learn the pairs that always go together 
in making certain numbers, as when the lesson is about 
the number "ten,'^ "seven'* suggests "three," "six" 
suggests "four," because when forming "ten" those go 
together. If "seven" be taken away, "three" remains ; 
if "six" is taken the number "four" is left. When 
adding a column several figures should be looked at as 
one ; for instance, when two and three are placed near 
each other, instantly one should think of 5, while 6 
and 6 suggested the number 12. In a column like this 

6 

4 

7 

3 

8 

2 

if children have been well taught little hands will be 

69 



rapidly raised and almost before you finish writing the 
figures, the answer will come from a number of 
sources, "thirty." The children know that six and 
four make ten, that seven and three make ten, and that 
eight and two make ten. They have been taught also 
that three tens make thirty. 

Teach that if eight and two are ten, eighteen and 
two are twenty, twenty-eight and two are thirty; if 
five and six make eleven, twenty-five and six make 
thirty-one, ending in the same figure. It is surprising 
how rapidly young minds can add, and if taught to 
thus shorten the process it will always seem easy to 
the children. 

To recapitulate, during the first year use objects 
or illustrate frequently on the board by means of lines, 
marks or objects drawn. Miake lessons very simple; 
go to higher numbers gradually. Have short lessons, 
not in the afternoon but early in the day. Teach num- 
bers in all their combinations from one to twenty. 
Use a first year book or manual or have some definite 
systematic plan of your own. Have variety and give 
seat-work that will help to develop the mind. 

In the first year the pupil has had the use of objects, 
has handled them, played with them, separated, com- 
bined and made original examples with them. He has 
learned gradually the signs and figures, what they 
stand for and how to make them. 

In the SECOND year begin with a review of previous 
work. Use objects still if it is necessary, for while the 
children will be able to do much without them, there 
will be times when they will be needed. Suppose the 
book contains an example of this kind, and the child 
can't understand it : "If a girl bought a dozen oranges 
at five cents each, what would they all cost?" To make 
it clear have twelve oranges drawn on the board, and 

70 



put the figure 5 under each one. In this way it is 
made so plain that a child can easily comprehend it. 

Teach how to ''carry'' in addition, how to "borrow" 
and "pay back" in subtraction. Teach the entire mul- 
tiplication table if the children in the class are capable 
of mastering it. They should memorize it, write it 
backward and forward, and be able to answer ques- 
tions when you "skip about." Put numbers on the 
board for drill, particularly these combinations : 

Multiply 9 8 9 7 8 7 
7 7 6 7 8 8 
and teach children to know the answers at sight. These 
are usually the hardest for pupils to learn, and should 
be written in a number of places among the easy ones. 

Cut up an old calendar, and taking the first twelve 
figures for each month, paste them on stiff paper and 
keep them in a box near at hand. If the lesson is on 
the sixth line of multiplication, hold up the figure "2" 
and let the first pupil give the answer "12." If a "5" 
is held up the next one will answer "30," or if a "9" 
the answer will be "54," etc. This makes a nice game 
for Friday. If the class is small, give to each child the 
card answered by him or her, and the one who holds 
the most at the end wins the game. 




b s 

Draw this figure placing a 6, a 7, or a 9 in the center. 
Point to outside numbers one at a time, skipping about, 

71 



and letting the child multiply by center number. If 
one misses play that he is in prison, put his name in a 
certain place. When another child misses he goes to 
prison and the first is free to join the class again. 

Children should know how to count by fives and 
tens ; should be taught that 32 and 10 are 42, 10 more 
make 52, then 62, 72, etc. If you add 10 to 25 it makes 
35, and 10 more will be 45. Second grade pupils may 
count by two's, by three's, four's and other numbers to 
a hundred or some number near it, as ninety-six. 

In making examples, put in an occasional question 
mark as: 12-h?=4, or 12 — ?=7. The question mark 
may come first as ?-^12==2. 

Compel attention by your enthusiasm as well as by 
your method. If possible call on every pupil in the 
class during recitation, and put questions and exam- 
ples in every form you can. Make children think 
quickly; and don't always ask questions around the 
class in regular order, but keep each pupil in a state 
of expectancy. Don't let them know whom you will 
call on next, but seek to have each one pay attention 
and be ready with an answer. 




72 



CHAPTER VIII 

Language 

As soon as the children learn to form their letters 
sufficiently well to write a sentence, they may begin 
the study of Language. The first lessons should be 
simple and very short, not more than three or four 
lines, and should be about some familiar object. If 
the school is in the country, and the teacher has more 
classes than she can do justice to, and thinks she has 
no time for Language, she should make time for it, 
for nothing in school work is more important. "What 
can be of more worth to the individual in after life 
than the power to express his thoughts, orally, or in 
writing, in pure, forcible English?" It should be 
taught every day, and when this cannot be done, at 
least once a week. The reading or number work may 
be omitted, at least one day in five, if there is no other 
time. 



FIRST YEAR 



Take an object in the school-room for your first les- 
son. Perhaps it is a ball. Show it to the children and 
draw one on the board where all can see. 

Let them talk about it and make sentences. Choose 
some of their sentences to write : 

The ball is round. 

It is made of rubber. 

We play with it. 

Tell the children that a sentence must begin with a 

73 



capital letter and end wih a period. Let them copy 
from the board what has been written, and be sure 
that your part of the work is done carefully, as it is 
to serve as a model for them. Make your letters large 
and plain. 

The pupils should have composition books or tablets 
which should be taken up each day and distributed 
again when needed. These should be kept for the Lan- 
guage work only, and each should be neatly labeled 
with the owner's name. 




The next lesson could be about an apple. 

Ask about the size, color, uses, shape. What is 
meant by the pulp ? Core ? Stem end ? Blossom end ? 
How do apples grow? What color are the seed? 
Which way do the seed point, to the blossom end or 
stem end? How many seed-cells are there? (Five.) 
How many petals does an apple-blossom have? (Five.) 
Name some different kinds of apples. The lesson may 
serve: 1st, to teach sentences; 2nd, to give informa- 
tion; 3rd, to encourage observation. The sentences 
may read: 

The apple is red. 
It is good to eat. 
It grew on a tree. 

74 



other objects will suggest themselves; as the clock, 
the bell, the water-bucket, an orange, a lemon. It is 
not necessary to draw the object every time, but when 
the outline is simple the children enjoy this branch 
of the work, particularly if they are allowed to color 
the apple red, and the lemon yellow, and other objects 
as nearly like nature as possible. 




On rainy days have the children to write about rain, 
and on snowy days about snow. Suit the lesson to the 
season, and do not talk of cherry blossoms in the win- 
ter, or of nuts in the spring. 

As the first grade children advance and learn to spell 
new words they may be taught to write lessons with- 
out the teacher's aid. Impress on them that sentences 
and proper names must always begin with capital let- 
ters and that every sentence must end with a period, 
unless it asks a question, in which case show them how 
to make the question mark. The exclamation point is 
too hard for them during the first year, so don't con- 
fuse them with its meaning. See that they learn 
THOROUGHLY the use of period, question mark and 
capital letters. 

Plan your work beforehand. In a book put down on 
Saturday what you want the little ones to write about 

75 



each day of the week following. Do not wait until the 
last minute and then think : "What shall I give them to 
write about today?'* Save yourself that worry by plan- 
ning your work out, even if you do not always follow 
your plan. 

A little verse may be copied from the First Keader 
occasionally, for a Language lesson. After the chil- 
dren have written and talked about the objects in the 
school-room, take those seen through the window, a 
tree, a leaf, the sky, etc. By making the lessons sim- 
ple, some of the topics which you have prepared for 
the higher grades may be used. Draw on the board 
for a lesson a can labeled "milk;" a tumbler; an eggy 
or a box. Hundreds of things will suggest themselves 
to your mind if you give the subject of Language a 
little time and study. Make the lessons short, keep 
the children interested, and require them to do neat, 
careful work, to dot the i's and cross the t's, and to 
join their letters together properly. Some children 
have trouble with such words as "would;" they want 
to make "w" by itself instead of joining it to the let- 
ters which follow; they write it thus: "w ould." Do 
not let a child fall into bad habits in writing, but teach 
him to do things in the right way first, so that he will 
have nothing to "unlearn." 

If no careless writing is received, no untidy work 
allowed, correct form insisted upon from the first, 
habits of neatness, accuracy and proper arrangement 
of words and sentences will daily grow stronger. 



SECOND YEAR 



Some children in the second grade are capable of 
taking their books (such as Long's Language Lessons, 

76 



Part I) , and writing the lessons at their seats without 
help or suggestion from the teacher. Of course they 
will make mistakes, but they will know how to work 
alone. Others, however, would have no idea how to 
begin if left to themselves. Each lesson must be fully 
explained before they can write it. It all depends on 
the class and on the training the pupils have had. Per- 
haps there are children who can read well in the 
Second Reader, write legibly, and have a fair start 
in Arithmetic, who have had absolutely no instruction 
in forming sentences. This is often true of children 
who attend county schools, because one teacher has 
so many lessons to hear there seems to be no time 
for Language. 

Take the class as you find it, and give the children 
work suited to their needs. If they have had no pre- 
vious training, teach them as you would first-grade 
pupils; if they can do harder work, let them do it. 
Remember, though, that it is better for the lessons 
to be too easy than too hard; remember, also, that 
children cannot write unless they have something to 
write about. Their thoughts must be trained before 
they can express them on paper. If you say to a child, 
"Write a composition," and do not tell him anything 
else, or furnish him with any ideas, if he has never 
written one before, he will feel that you have given 
him an impossible t§sk; but if you talk about a sub- 
ject, ask questions, and allow the children to talk and 
get their minds full of thoughts, they will be eager to 
write what they know. Instead of looking forward to 
the Language lessons with dread they will think of 
them with pleasure. 

While the thought is the main thing aimed at in 
Language work, attention should also be paid to the 

77 



appearance of the page and the formation of the let- 
ters. Show the pupils how to leave a small margin to 
the left, and encourage neatness and carefulness in 
writing. Teach them how to copy poetry so it will 
not resemble prose; how to begin and end a letter; 
and how to use quotation marks. The names of the 
days, with their abbreviations, come properly in the 
second year's work, as do also the names of the 
months and seasons. 

There is much variety in Language work. There 
are information lessons, verses to be copied, letters, 
dictation and reproduction lessons. The children may 
write about pictures; give each a separate picture or 
have a lesson from a large one for the whole class. 
Words may be placed on the board in irregular order 
and the children allowed to place them properly in 
sentences in their tablets: 

over, hill, Tom, the, went. the. 

of, March, is, This, month. 

Teach the difference between "to," "too" and "two ;" 
between "here" and "hear;" and "there" and "their." 

Have an occasional lesson of this kind ; write a sen- 
tence incorrectly on the board, as — 

I see a apple? 
and allow the children to correct the mistake. Let one 
child rub out something which he sees wrong and make 
it right, another child something else until the sen- 
tence is as it should be: 
I see an apple. 

There may be teachers who find it convenient to 
have the second grade children write their lessons at 
the same time the more advanced ones do. In this case 
the same subject may be simplified for the younger 

78 



ones. Let us suppose they are to write about cotton. 
Tell them all you know about it, ask questions and let 
it be discussed. On the blackboard put questions of 
this kind for the second year children: 

What color is cotton? 

Where does it grow? 

How is it gathered? 

Did you ever see a cotton bale? 

Name some things made of cotton. . 

On other boards place the outlines for higher grades. 

In all your Language work, particularly that based 
on nature study, let the children draw on the page 
the object which they write about, if possible, i'lc- 
tures of useful plants, as coffee and tea, may be found 
in the geographies. Models for fruits are easily se- 
cured. If the subject is "iron" a horseshoe or some- 
thing made of the metal may be drawn. If they write 
about "salt," draw for them on the board a bag labeled 

"salt " 

Teach during the second year the various uses of 

capital letters: . 

1. Every line of poetry should begin with a capital 

letter. 

2. Most abbreviations must begin with capital let- 

ters* 

3. Every sentence must begin with a capital letter. 

4. Proper names, of people, places, days and months 
should begin with capital letters. 

5. The pronoun "I" must always be a capital letter. 

6. Quotations (direct) must begin with capital let- 
ters 

Teach also some uses of the comma, what the excla- 
mation point is for, and other simple rules of which 
you may think. If you have a text-book do not think 

79 



you have to follow it closely, but use your own judg- 
ment and be original. 



THIRD, FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS 

If children have been well taught they should, by the 
time they reach the third year, know how to do very 
good work. They probably have text-books and can, 
with or without help, follow the plan there laid down. 
Again the teacher may be supplied with language 
charts which furnish a series of helpful lessons. No 
definite plan of conducting a recitation on Language 
can be laid down by any one teacher. There must be, 
however, some system and sequence of thought. One 
lesson must lead to another and all must form a har- 
monious and connected whole. In teaching the verb- 
form, plurals, abbreviations, contractions and marks 
of punctuation there must be method. The hardest 
things should not be taught first nor the easiest ones 
last. 

The books or tablets should be distributed at a reg- 
ular time and taken up by the teacher or by a monitor 
appointed for the purpose. They may be corrected 
daily in the class, or may be taken home each Friday 
by the teacher and there corrected ready to be returned 
the following Monday. The best compositions may be 
neatly copied into other books, or on sheets of paper. 
If the latter, they can be pinned on the wall as a re- 
ward for good work, or kept for exhibition days. The 
time ^nd manner of distributing and taking up books, 
and of correcting them, must be determined by each 
teacher. What suits in one school may not be con- 
venient in another. 

Have children to write letters frequently, for it is 
practical training. Some teachers use this as a means 

80 



of keeping in touch with the minds and motives of 
pupils, and thus of controlling them. A letter once a 
week or once a month from every boy and girl in your 
room will go far toward helping you to know them 
better. In teaching letter writing, tell children not to 
say, "I thought I would write you a letter," and to 
avoid beginning with the pronoun "I," but to try to 
express their thoughts in other ways. 

In compositions do not allow them to write, **There 
are many kinds of flowers," or "There are many kinds 
of birds," etc. Never accept torn or ragged papers, 
but teach that "Whatever is worth doing is worth 
doing well." Teach the proper use of "a" and "an," 
of "our" and "hour." The Geography lesson may be 
used for Language. Have children to write lessons 
dating them at London, Paris, or Rome, and describing 
those cities. Have them to describe what they saw 
on the way to school; a visit to a blacksmith shop or 
to a factory. Use proverbs, fables, poems or stories 
as the groundwork of lessons in Language. Let chil- 
dren write about their games ; teach them how to write 
initials ; and make use of current events. 

Have conversation lessons to correct faults in speak- 
ing. Keep a record of mistakes made by children and 
use the words or phases correctly in the conversation 
class. Discourage all wrong pronunciation as "git," 
"goin'," "ain't," and "singin'." By example and pre- 
cept teach the use of clear, forcible English. 



SUGGESTIVE OUTLINES 

September. First month of autumn. Days and 
nights equal at the time of the equinox. Thirty days 
in the month. "September" means "seventh month." 
Many flowers in bloom. Birds and insects. 

81 



Review rules for capital letters, period, question 
mark, exclamation point, the names of the days of the 
week, names of months, etc. 

On September 4, 1824, Phoebe Gary was born in 
Ohio in a low unpainted farm-house. Family poor. 
Phoebe jolly, bright-eyed, dark-haired little girl, who 
loved to romp. She loved the flowers, birds and trees. 
Nine children in the family. Merry times in the barn 
playing hide and seek. Phoebe loved to read. Only 
twelve books in the family. Phoebe and her sister 
Alice walked to school. At night studied by a light 
made with a rag wick in a saucer of lard. At the age 
of fourteen sent verses to Boston paper. They were 
published. Sisters afterwards became famous. Whit- 
tier wrote to Phoebe. Horace Greeley visited her. 
With Alice she lived in New York, Boston and Ames 
bury. Settled in New York. Visited by distinguished 
people. Wrote the hymn "Nearer Home." 

Eugene Field. Born in September, 1850, at St. 
Louis. His mother died when he was six years o' 
He went to live at Amherst, Mass., where his cousin 
took care of him. A happy, loving boy, fond of pets. 
Had a talent for drawing. His first poem of merit 
written when he was thirty. Wrote "Little Boy Blue." 
Died 1895. 

James Fenimore Gooper. Born in September, 1789, 
at Burlington, New Jersey. Early life spent on the 
shores of Lake Otsego, New York. Gountry at that 
time was a wilderness. James familiar with Indians 
and hunters. His father a judge and man of culture. 
James went to Yale Gollege. Entered the navy and 
remained there six years. Wrote many novels about 
Indian life, "The Pilot,*' "The Pioneer," etc. 

Nature Study. Gorn. Planted last spring. Grains 

82 



red and yellow. Called Indian corn or maize. Shucks 
used for mattresses. Corn ground into meal. Various 
uses of corn. Selections from **Hiawatha" about the 
corn fields. 

Flowers. What flowers are blooming now? What 
colors do we see most often in autumn flowers? (yellow 
and purple.) What flowers are fragrant? Uses of 
flowers. Poems about the dandelion. 

Study of Nasturtium. (Supply each child with 
one.) Parts: calyx or cup, petals or flower leaves; 
stamens or powder-boxes, seed-case at bottom of pistil. 
How many divisions has the calyx? One part is like a 
horn or spur and is filled with nectar. How many 
petals? (Five.) Which have fringe? Which have 
dark lines to show the bee the way down to the nectar? 

Insects. Fly. Has no teeth. Sucks its food. 
Breathes through holes in sides. Keeps itself clean. 
Feet and legs covered with fine hair, which serve as 
brushes. Eight thousand eyes; four thousand on each 
side. Six legs. 

Ants. Several hundred kinds. Some very strong"; 
can carry off things ten times as heavy as themselves. 
Ant hills in South America three times as high as a 
man. Store food for the winter. In warm countries 
larger than bumble bees. Many together kill birds and 
small animals. Make war on other tribes and capture 
eggs and cocoons. Carry these to their colonies, 
hatch them and make slaves of the ants from them. 
Carpenter ants bore into trees. Large Texas ants tun- 
nel long distances under the ground. 

October. Questions for class: 
What month is this ? 
What season is it? 
What will the leaves do soon ? 

88 



What work do they do for the tree? (They 
breathe for it.) 
Of what use are the leaves after they fall? 

(Make the ground rich.) 
What trees keep their leaves all winter? 
Where are the birds now? 
What are the squirrels busy doing? 
What becomes of the flowers? 
Teach verb forms "is'* and "are;" "was" and 
"were;" "teach" and "learn." 
Adjectives : 

pretty pointed mellow 

fragrant prickly ripe 

yellow glossy stiff 

purple useful hollow 

Outlines for Stories. 1. Three children go nut- 
ting. What they take with them. What they bring 
back. How they go and where. What they see on the 
way. 

2. Two boys gathering persimmons. Who told them 
that they might? How far did they go? What did 
they find when they reached the tree? What had hap- 
pened at home while they were gone? 

3. Surprise party. Lame boy at home. Nutting 
party for him. How his friends had it in his room 
and why. 



SUBJECTS TO WRITE ABOUT 

Nuts. Varieties, uses, how gathered. 

Frost. Ripens nuts, color the leaves, kills fever germs, 

kills flowers. 
Halloween Customs. Bobbing for apples, roasting 

chestnuts, trying fortunes, playing games, etc, 

84 



Leaves. Colors, shapes, sizes, uses. 
Tea Leaves. Come from shrub or small tree. Bright 
glossy and green. First crop each year the best. 
Dried first in the sun, then over a fire. Men, 
women and children roll and twist the leaves for 
selling. Sorted and packed in chests. Story of 
''Boston Tea Party." 
Trees. Trunk, limbs, leaves, roots, etc. Nut trees: 
hickory, walnut, chestnut. Big trees of Califor- 
nia. Evergreens. 
Helen Hunt Jackson was born October 18, 1831. 
When a child loved to play out of doors. Born at 
Amherst, Mass. Married an army officer who soon 
died. Later married Jackson and lived in Colorado. 
Wrote prose and verse. Wrote stories of children. 
Much interested in the Indians. Died in California. 
October 12, 1492, Columbus landed. 
October 19, LaFayette Day. 

November. Everything preparing for the winter. 

Animals have thicker coats of fur. Birds go south. 

Some insects and animals die. Others go into winter 

quarters. Our own preparation for winter, clothing, 

fuel, food. Days shorter. Weather rainy or cloudy. 

Teach use of apostrophe in contractions, as "Fve," 

"Fm" and "Fll," also in possessives, as "Ruth's hat.*' 

Teach use of hyphen. When a word is divided at 

the end of a line, that part of the word which remains 

on the line must be followed by a hyphen. The division 

must always be made between two syllables. 

Teach plurals of these words : 

child ox house 

woman goose boy 

man sheep girl 

tooth horse bench 

85 



Teach the meaning of these: 

A. M. (Ante Meridiem), before noon. 
P. M. (Post Meridiem), after noon. 
Doz. Dozen. 
Rev. Reverend. 
Gen. General. 
P. S. Postscript. 
P. 0. Postoffice. 
William Cullen Bryant. Born Nov. 3, 1794, at 
Cummington, Mass. Named for a famous doctor in 
Scotland. Delicate as a child. He was dipped in a 
cold spring every morning to make him healthy. His 
father was a doctor. His mother industrious, hard 
working and good. Bryant grew stronger. Loved 
nature. Studied botany with his father. Author of 
'Thanatopsis." 

Nature Study. Acorns. Different kinds: large, 
small, long, short. Food for squirrels, bears and pigs. 
Acorns ripen in autumn. Frost makes them fall. 
Those not eaten by animals are kept warm by the 
leaves till spring comes. Tiny roots then go down into 
the ground and green leaves shoot upward. No longer 
acorns. 'Tall oaks from little acorns grow." Oak 
trees grow very slowly, but are strong and beautiful. 
Oak Trees. Varieties: white, black, red, post, 
chestnut, burr, live oak. Many besides these. Dif- 
ferent kinds in different localities. Leaves, bark and 
acorns different. Oak trees keep their leaves longest. 
Articles of furniture made of oak, for bed rooms, 
school rooms and parlors. Other uses of oak lumber. 
"The old oaken bucket." 

Squirrels. Most common kind grey. Belong to the 
gnawing family. Store nuts in hollow trees or bury 
them in the ground. Often trees come up from the 
walnuts and acorns which they plant. Easy to tame. 

86 



Make nice pets. Seldom bite people. Tail bushy and 
large. Curls over back. Sit on hind legs when eating. 
Subjects for Compositions. 
A Thanksgiving Story. 

Gnawing Animals — rats, mice, squirrels, etc. 
Story of Bunny. 
When the Woods Turn Brown. 
A Fall Day. 
An Autumn Picture. 
Fuel — wood, coal, gas. 
Thanksgiving. 

"In November the harvest is gathered; 
Thanksgiving brings praise and good cheer; 
We thank our Lord God for the blessings 
He sends us all through the year." 
Thanksgiving was formerly appointed by the 
Governor of each State. The Jews had such a feast 
(Pentecost), and, in their reaping, left a portion for 
the poor to gather. Plymouth settlers gave Thanksgiv- 
ing for a rain. In 1632 in Boston, a day was ap- 
pointed for fasting and prayer. Thanksgiving day 
now appointed by the President. A happy time for 
many, but lonely for those away from home. Much 
charity work then by relief societies, Y. M. C. A., and 
other associations. Food and clothing given to the 
needy. Hundreds of poor people invited to good 
dinners. 

December. Days short. Weather cold. Trees 
bare. All flowers gone. A few birds left. Ice and 
snow during part of the month. Preparations for 
Christmas. 

**And last comes dear December 
When we hail the Savior's birth ; 
A time to all most joyous, 
With peace and good will on earth." 
87 



"Feathery flakes are falling, falling, 
From the skies in softest way; 
And between are voices calling, 
Soon it will be Christmas Day." 
Teach these verb forms : 



give gave 


given 


hang hung 


hung 


shine shone 


shone 


freeze froze 


frozen 


List of Adjectives: 




glad lovely 


sparkling 


joyous beautiful 


thoughtful 


happy merry 


sweet 


kind good 


poor 



Why do bells for Christmas ring? 
Why do little children sing? 
Once a lovely shining star 
Seen by wise men from afar, 
Gently moved until its light 
Made the manger's cradle bright. 

"There a darling baby lay, 
Pillowed soft upon the hay. 
And his mother sang and smiled 
This is Christ, the holy child.' 
So the bells for Christmas ring. 
So the little children sing." 

Christmas stories may be read and reproduced 
and Christmas poems copied by the children. 

Christmas in Norway. Two weeks before, prepa- 
rations begin. House cleaned, evergreens scattered on 
the floors, wreaths fastened to the walls. In the halls 
small trees are placed with candles on them. Old 
China brought out. Women cook and bake. Fathers 

88 



hunt deer. A sheep is killed and made into sausage. 
On Christmas eve all gather about the father who 
holds prayers. Then little ones light candles. After 
a simple meal all go to church. The little ones carry 
torches to light the way. All carry bundles of good 
things to be distributed to the poor. Cows and horses 
have twice as much feed given them as at other times. 
Great bundles of grain are tied to the fence and houses 
for the birds. During the year they lay aside pennies 
for the birds' Christmas dinner. On Christmas morn- 
ing the children play pranks on each other. For din- 
ner there are potatoes, onions, fish, sausage, sweet 
cakes and cookies. In the center of the table, a cake 
of butter weighing thirty or forty pounds. Games, 
Christmas tree. Bed-time at ten. — Journal of Educa- 
tion, March, 1898. 

Christmas in Germany. Pine tree used for a 
Christmas tree. In the top a dove or an image of the 
Christ-child. Many candles on the tree. Little angels 
are fastened to the branches. Gifts for everybody, 
old and young. 

Christmas in Russia. Greeting is "God with us," 
instead of "Merry Christmas." Instead of Santa 
Claus, Baboushka, an old woman, comes down the 
chimneys. She comes with the presents on the Epiph- 
any. This is twelve days after Christmas, sixth day 
of January. Games, mostly singing games. All sing 
the "Slava" song. "Slava" means "Hallelujah." 

In America thousands of young spruce trees 
shipped from Maine every year to be used for Christ- 
mas trees. Maine is the Christmas tree State. 

Questions. When does Christmas come? Whose 
birthday is it? Where was Christ born? What does 
B. C. mean? What does A. D. mean? Is Christmas 
kept in all countries? Why? What are people busy 

89 



doing now? Why do they do these things? Is it a 
time to think of yourself? How can we make some 
one else happy? 

Make a story using these words : 
Girls, boys, sleigh, pretty, good, bells, yellow, red, 
jolly, presents, ten, mamma, papa, sang, time. 

Write a story about a little girl and what she did 
to make some one happy. What was her name? Where 
did she live? 

John Greenleaf Whittier. Born December 17, 
1807, at Haverhill, Mass. Born in the same year as 
Longfellow. Lived on a farm. Woods, an old well 
and a branch near by. First school in a farm house. 
Afterwards went to a little brown schoolhouse. Wrote 
poems when a child. First published poem when he 
was nineteen. Wrote "Snow Bound." 

Pilgrims. Came from Scrooby, a small town in 
England. Lived twelve years in Holland. Started to 
America in 1620 in two ships. Speedwell and May- 
flower. Speedwell leaked and was taken back. May- 
flower landed first at Cape Cod, Mass. Capt. Miles 
Standish and sixteen went ashore to find suitable place 
to settle. 

On December 21st found a safe harbor at Plymouth. 
During first year one-half of the people died. No 
Indians near till next spring. 

Subjects. Pilgrims. Former homes. Purpose in 
coming to America. Voyage. Landing. Life in 
this country. 

Ships famous in history. Susan Constant, Half 
Moon, Mayflower. Ships of Columbus: Nina, 
Pinta, Santa Maria. 

90 



Courtship of Miles Standish. Longfellow. 

Pilgrim Homes. How built and how furnished. 
Kettles hung in open fire-place, women spun and 
wove all the cloth. 

Holly and Mistletoe. Mistletoe, the sacred plant 
of the Druids. Grew on oaks their sacred trees. 
They cut it with golden sickles. They were clad 
in white garments when they gathered it. Mod- 
ern uses of mistletoe. Parasites. 

January. A new page in the book of life given to 
us. A new year starts. Month of good resolutions. 
Named for a heathen god, Janus. The Saxons called 
it the wolf month because the wolves were ravenous 
then. How many days in the month? 



Teach difference between these 


.' 


sit 

lie 

this 

these 

in 




and 
« 

it 

ft 

tt 




set 

lay 

that 

those 

into 


up 
who 




tt 
tt 




upon 
which 


Adjectives. 








cold 




clear 




hard 


warm 
tough 
brittle 




dim 

smooth 

rough 




narrow 

soft 

wide 


Dates. 










Jan. 1, 
Jan. 2, 


1735, 
1863, 


Paul Revere was born. 
Battle of Murfreesboro. 






91 







Jan. 8, 1815, Battle of New Orleans. 

Jan. 11, 1746, John H. Pestalozzi was born. 

Jan. 17, 1706, Benjamin Franklin was born. 

Benjamin Franklin. Born in Boston. Learned 
to read when young. Only two years at school. His 
father made soap and tallow candles. Benjamin, one 
of seventeen children. Apprenticed to his brother, 
James, who was a printer. Wrote poetry. Denied 
himself meat that he might take the money and buy 
books. Went to Philadelphia at the age of seventeen 
and worked for a printer. Went to London. London 
printers drank beer and called Franklin the "Water 
American," because he did not. Worked early and 
late. Read and studied much. Came back to Phila- 
delphia. Started a printing press of his own. Pub- 
lished newspaper; also "Poor Richard's Almanac." 
Started first public library in America. Discovered 
that electricity and lightning were the same. In- 
vented the lightning rod. Called "the great Doctor 
Franklin." Many town are named for him. 

Subjects: Snow: appearance, depth, uses, drifts, 
blizzards, avalanches. 

Story about being lost in the snow. 
The Alps: The Matterhorn, Mt. Blanc. 

St. Bernard Dogs: How they rescue people who 
are buried in the snow. 

ICE: Uses, appearance, etc. Glaciers, icebergs, 
icicles, lake ice, manufactured ice, ice cutting in 
Maine. 

Animals of Cold Countries: Walrus, polar bears, 
dogs, reindeer. 

Walrus. Killed with a harpoon which Is very 

92 



sharp. Thick skin. One of the largest animals in the 
world. Some of them weigh 3,000 pounds. Largest 
ones ten feet long. Stay on huge blocks of ice. Have 
to be killed quickly or they will dive and upset the 
boats. Dangerous sport. Two long tusks. 

Esquimaux. Huts made of blocks of ice covered 
with snow. Narrow platform of ice around the inside 
covered with skins. Round hole for a door, and long, 
narrow passage leading into hut. Food : bears, seals, 
fish, seabirds. Most meat eaten raw, or slightly 
cooked in a kettle hung from the roof. Under the ket« 
tie is a bone dish filled with oil. Wick made of moss in 
center. Socks made of bird skins, jacket of seal skin 
and trousers of bear skin. Hitch dogs to sledges. 

Cold Countries. Alaska: Yukon River, Sitka, 
Klondike, climate, people. Greenland : ice sheet, pop- 
pies, eider ducks, Norse settlers, Eric the red. Siberia : 
Exiles, names and customs. Russia: Czar, St. Peters- 
burg, steppes. 

February. The shortest month. The last month of 
winter. The second month of the year. The month 
for valentines. Many great people born in February, 

Teach the correct use of "doesn't" and "don't.** Is 
it correct to say, "It don't make any difference?" 
"Doesn't" means "does not." "Don't" means "do 
not." 

Teach the difference between "each" and "all." 
Review the words : 



here 


and 


hear 


their 


tt 


there 


too 


** 


two 


pear 


it 


pair 



93 



Verb forms. 








have 


has 


had 


had 


know 


knows 


knew 


known 


speak 


speaks 


spoke 


spoken 


see 


sees 


saw 


seen 



Noted Birthdays. 
Feb. 7, 1912, Charles Dickens. 
Feb. 11, 1847, Thomas Edison. 
Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln. 
Feb. 22, 1732, George Washington. 
Feb. 22, 1819, James Russell Lowell. 
Feb. 27, 1807, Henry W. Longfellow. 

Dickens. Born at Portsmouth, England. His 
father a clerk in the Navy Pay Ojffice. Moved to Chat- 
hami. Delicate boy. Loved to read. Merry and 
bright. Fond of singing. At nine years of age moved 
to London. Father unfortunate. Became very poor. 
Charles worked in a blacking factory. His father was 
sent to the debtor's prison. Charles spare moments 
At one time Charles was clerk in a lawyer's office, at 
another time reporter, and later wrote for a maga- 
zine. Pickwick Papers made him famous. 

Topics. England, London, Westminster Abbey, 
The Tower, Queen Victoria. 

Edison. When a child liked to read articles de- 
scribing inventions. Fond of trying experiments. Sold 
newspapers on the train. With the money made 
bought books. Industrious and persevering. Tele- 
phones. Electric cars. Electric lights. 

Topics. Morse and the telegraph. 

Eli Whitney and the cotton-gin. 
Robert Fulton and the steamboat. 
Elias Howe and the sewing machine. 
94 



Lincoln. Born in a log cabin in Kentucky. When 
seven years old father moved to Indiana. Lived a 
frontier life. Learned to read and write, and spent 
his spare time studying. Only five or six books, which 
he read over and over. His favorites were Aesop's 
Fables and Pilgrim's Progress. Hated to see any one 
cruel to animals. Kind hearted, industrious, hard 
working. Moved to Illinois. Had charge of a flat boat 
on the Ohio. Kept a store and failed. Afterwards 
paid every cent of his debts. Postmaster, surveyor, 
member of the Legislature, lawyer. Walked eight 
miles once to borrow a grammar. 

Topics. Frontier Life. Daniel Boone. Watauga, 
John Sevier, Spencer, James Robertson, Trappers. 

Washington. Born at Wakefield, Albermarle 
county, Va. Father named Augustine. Brother 
named Lawrence. His mother took much pains to im- 
plant good principles and manly ideas in her son. 
Very painstaking and careful. Wrote many "Rules 
for Behavior." One of these was, "Do not speak while 
others are speaking." Beautiful home on the Potomac 
called Mt. Vernon. He is buried there, and the key 
of his tomb is in the river. 

Topics. 

Our Flag: How many stripes? What do they 
represent? How many stars now? Who made 
the first flag? (Mrs. Betsy Ross in Philadel- 
phia.) 

The French and Indian War. 
The Revolution. 

Our Country: Growth, population, number of 
States, army, navy, productions, occupations. 
95 



He wrote a poem about it called "From My Arm 
Chair." 

Topics. Story of Evangeline. 
Hiawatha's Childhood. 
Hiawatha's Sailing. 
Indian Customs. 
Longfellow's Friends. 
Harvard College. 
City of Cambridge. 

St. Valentine. A good old bishop, full of kindness 
and love for his fellow beings. Every one loved him. 
Kind to the poor, the sick, the needy. Children were 
fond of him. He believed in God while many around 

Lowell. Youngest of five children. Lived at Cam- 
bridge, Mass. Father a preacher. Mother told him 
beautiful stories. Loved nature. Entered Harvard 
College at fifteen. Lived at Elmwood. Always kind 
hearted. Married a lovely woman who made him 
very happy. His first child was named Blanche and 
lived only a year. He wrote a beautiful poem about 
her called "The First Snowfall." 

Longfellow. Born at Portland, Maine. Blue- 
eyed, brown-haired when a child. Kind and affection- 
ate. Loved neatness and order. Wanted to do right 
and tell the truth. Industrious and tried to do well 
whatever he undertook. He was not cruel. Once he 
shot a bird and came home with tears in his eyes and 
never killed another. When he was grown he always 
loved children, and was kind to them. He wrote the 
"Village Blacksmith." The children of Cambridge 
gave him an arm chair made of the spreading chest- 
nut tree that stood in front of the blacksmith's shop. 

96 



him worshiped imiages. They put him in prison be- 
cause of his religion. Afterwards they came to be- 
lieve in God too, and were so sorry for what they had 
done that they set aside Februaryl4th as his birthday. 
They sent messages of love to each other, such as he 
had been used to send to them. 

March. The windy month. The first flowers to 
bloom. Ice begins to melt and spring freshets occur. 
Mother Nature has a spring cleaning. She is getting 
ready for her family. The birds will come flying back 
soon, the flowers will peep out of the ground, and the 
trees will put on green dresses. 

"March winds and April showers 
Bring forth May flowers." 

"I'm merry breezy little March, 
Dear Children gathered here; 
I hope you are all glad to greet 
The third month of the year." 

"A jolly young fellow is Mr. March Wind 
With all his bluster and noise.*' 

Adjectives. High, low, wet, dry, early, late, red, 
green. 

Verbs. Blow, whirl, scatter, dance, play, bring, 
bloom, fly, come, toss, sing, rush, swell, watch. 

Difference between : 

blue and blew 

sail " sale 

write " right 

Topics. Wind — good things about it: Helps 
ships to sail, scatters seed, helps birds to fly, 
turns windmills, purifies the air, flies kites, brings 
rain, dries clothes, sweeps Mother Nature's 
house for her. 

97 



Bad things it does: Wrecks ships, tears 
down houses, uproots trees, causes cyclones, tor- 
nadoes and sand storms, destroys villages. 

"In spring when stirs the wind, I know 
That soon the crocus buds will show ; 
For 'tis the wind who bids them wake. 
And into pretty blossoms break." 

Flowers : Crocus, violet, jonquil, peach blossom. 

Dafodil, often called buttercup. Belongs to the 
same family with the jonquil and narcissus. 

"Daffydowndilly 
Came up in the cold, 
Through the brown mould, 
Although the March breezes 
Blew keen in her face, 
Although the white snow 
Lay on many a place." — Miss Warner. 

Seeds. When does the farmer plant them? What 
must be done to the ground first? Do farmers 
plant the same things in the same place every 
year? (No, because the food needed for one va- 
riety of plant is used up and crops must be 
changed.) 

Cotton seed planted in March or April. Seed first 
brought to Georgia from Bahama Islands. Seeds used 
for making cotton seed oil, cottolene and medicine. 
Plants grow rapidly. 

What VEGETABLE seed are planted now? What 
FLOWER seed? 

Kites. How to make them and how to fly them. 
(Cameras are sent up by kites and photographs 
taken of army troops.) 
98 



Windmills. What country is full of them and why? 
(Holland; they keep the land drained by pumping 
up the water.) 

Water. Mills, boats, ships, springs, rivers, ocean, 
lakes. 

Buds. What trees are budding? How many kinds 
of buds have you seen? 

April. How many days has April? What flowers 
are blooming? What trees have budded? What birds 
have you seen? 

This is the month of sunshine and rain. 
It is sometimes called the month of smiles and tears. 
The Indians call it the month of starry nights. 
People are still planting seed. 

"Isn't it wonderful, when you think 
How a little seed asleep. 
Out of the earth new life will drink. 
And carefully upward creep? 
A seed, we say, is a simple thing. 
The germ of a flower or weed. 
But all of earth's workmen, laboring. 
With all the help that wealth could bring 
Never could make a seed." 

"Kind and loving thoughts 
Are the tiny seeds ; 
From each, bud and blossom 
Kind and loving deeds. 
"Plant a loving thought 
In all that you may do. 
And that seed will blossom 
Into love for you." 

99 



"Plant lilies, and lilies will bloom; 
Plant roses, and roses will grow ; 
Plant hate, and hate to life will spring ; 
Plant love, and love to you will bring 
The fruit of the seed you sow." 

Review the rules for punctuation. 

Adjectives. Bright, brilliant, showy, brave, honest, 
polite, chivalrous. 

Review verb forms. Is, are, was, were, has, have, 
see, saw, seen, know, knew, known. 

Nature Study. Earth. Size, people, land and 
water, divisions of each. Hot inside (volcanoes, earth- 
quakes, geysers, hot springs.) Everything conies from 
the earth. Rock inside, soil outside. Kinds of soil, 
clay, sand, gravel, loam. 

Air. Composed of oxygen and nitrogen. Oxygen 
gives us life. Compare air in city and country. Air 
on mountains, in wells, in mines, in a crowded room. 
Black Hole of Calcutta. 

Birds. Description, color, size, name^ habits; size 
and number of eggs. Nest building, material used. 
(Sticks, straw, thread, leaves, mud, hair, wool, strings, 
etc.) The tailor bird sews leaves together for a nest. 
The garden bird makes a nest on the ground and deco- 
rates the yard. The woodpecker bores a hole in wood 
or builds in a hollow tree. Suitable poems for study : 
"The Emperor's Bird's Nest" and "The Birds of Kil- 
lings worth'" by Longfellow; "The Little Sandpiper," 
by Celia Thaxter. 

The eggs of the woodpecker are 

The eggs of the robin are 

100 



Owls build 

The cowbird steals 

The red bird 

Swallows build 

The jaybird is 

The Russian novelist, Turgenieff, when a boy of ten 
went hunting with his father, and was much impressed 
when a bird, which had been shot, fluttered to her nest, 
and, spreading her wings, died protecting her brood. 
His father praised him for his skill, but he answered : 
"Never again will I destroy any living creature. If 
this is sport I will have none of it. Life is more beau- 
tiful to me than death, and since I cannot give life I 
will not take it.'' 

Rain. Where does it come from and where does it 
go? What is frozen rain? Describe a raindrop's jour- 
ney. 

Sunshine. What does it do for the flowers, vege- 
tables, trees, etc. Could we do without it? 

Washington Irving. Born April 3, 1783. Named 
for George Washington. Lived in New York. En- 
gaged to Matilda Hoffman, who died. Remained an 
old bachelor. Lived abroad for some time. First 
American author recognized by Europeans. Moved to 
Sunnyside, an old Dutch mansion on the Hudson 
River. Wrote ^'The Sketch Book," "Alhambra," "Ma- 
homet," and "Life of Washington." 

Paul Revere's Ride, April 18, 1775. 

Mother's Day, April 20. 

Friedrich Froebel, born April 21, 1782. 

Alice Gary, born April 26, 1820. 

101 



"Children who read my lay, 
This much I have to say : 
Each day and every day 

Do what is right! 
Right things in great and small ! 
Then, though the sky should fall, 
Sun, moon, and stars, and all 

You should have light. 

"This, further, I would say : 
Be you tempted as you may. 
Each day and every day, 

Speak what is true! 
True things, in great and small ; 
Then, though the sky should fall. 
Sun, moon and stars and all. 
Heaven would show through." 

— Alice Gary. 
May. Last month of spring. There are thirty-one 
days. Trees full of leaves. The bare limbs are all 
covered. Daisies blooming. Flowers and birds every- 
where. Warm days and cool mornings. 

Teach plurals of these: 



knife 


baby 


candy 


pony 


potato 


lady 


piano 


wife 


glass 


valley 


fox 


berry 


Write each of these 


in a sentence 


so as t 


OWNERSHIP : 






mouse 


child 


bird 


mice 


children 


birds 


horse 


girl 


king 


horses 


girls 


kings 


James 


man 


boy 


John 


men 
102 


boys 



Contractions. 


What does 


each 


mean? 


it's 


hasn't 




o'er 


we'll 


wouldn't 


won't 


ma'am 


'twas 




'twill 


hadn't 


e'er 




here's 


Abbreviations : 








N. Y. 


Ct. 




I. T. 


La. 


Fla. 




D. C. 


Tenn. 


Ga. 




Ore. 


Va. 


Ala. 




S. C. 



Dates for May: 

May 4, 1780, John James Audubon. 

May 4, 1796, Horace Mann. 

May 24, 1819, Queen Victoria 

May 25, 1803, Kalph Waldo Emerson. 

May 27, 1807, Louis Agassiz 

May 29, 1726, Patrick Henry 

Audubon. Born in Louisiana. At the age of seven 
knew the names of the birds where he lived. Learned 
where and how they built their nests, and the kinds of 
eggs they laid. His father bought for him books about 
birds and pictures of birds. He filled the walls of his 
room with these pictures. Sent to Paris to school when 
he was ten. He cared for the birds of France more 
than for other things. While there he learned to stuff 
and mount them, but as he would never shoot a bird 
his collection grew very slowly. Learned to paint 
birds. Made a wonderful book, a very large one, with 
pictures and descriptions of birds. He knew more 
about birds than anyone else. It took him a long time 
to make his book. 

Horace Mann. Lived in Massachusetts. The father 

103 



of the public school system. Was treated badly, be- 
cause he insisted on trained teachers and wanted to 
abolish the a — b — c method of teaching reading. Per- 
severing, hard working, earnest. Caused a reforma- 
tion in educational work. 

Nature Study. Butterflies: Once they were tiny 
eggs of different colors. The air and warm rain awoke 
the life within. Out of each egg came a little grub or 
caterpillar. The grub begins to eat the leaves and 
grows fast. He does nothing but eat and grow. When 
his skin gets too tight he bursts it open and has a new 
and brighter coat. In a few weeks he has shed his 
skin several times. When full grown he hangs himself 
to a stem, leaf or wall. Sometimes he spins silk 
thread which he winds round and round his body, thus 
forming a cocoon. While a caterpillar, or grub, he has 
twelve eyes ; when he becomes a butterfly he has more 
than thirty thousand. The grub breathes through little 
round holes in his sides. Body has thirteen rings. 
After hanging to a twig or other object one or two 
days, the skin of the caterpillar again splits, and it has 
a body of a different shape and color. It is then called 
a chrysalis. Those which spin cocoons change inside 
the cocoons. Others crawl into the earth to change. 
Once again the skin splits open and the butterfly comes 
forth. 

Bees. Three kinds in every hive, queen, drones, and 
workers. Only one queen bee in each hive. She lays 
the eggs. She is longer and smoother than the others. 
Workers collect the honey, protect the young and make 
the wax. Males, or drones, do not work and have no 
stings. 



104 



CHAPTER IX 

* Geography 

Begin the study with children who are in the second 
grade. The first instruction should be oral and the 
best method for teaching the natural divisions of land 
and water is to use sand. With the top of a large 
pasteboard box and a cup of clean white sand the 
teacher may make for the children, islands, peninsulas, 
capes, gulfs, bays, etc. If the color of the pasteboard 
should be light blue this will serve nicely to represent 
water. With a pencil, river-courses and lakes may be 
traced in the sand. Some gravel kept in a box nearby 
may be used for mountains. A sand table with a quan- 
tity of sand is better, but where this is not practicable 
use the box top, or any flat surface. Have the sand 
damp but not wet. If you get it too wet add more 
sand or let stand over night. A very little flour 
helps to make it better for working and molding into 
shapes. Iron-moulder's sand is excellent. 

Geography includes many branches. It tells us some- 
thing of botany, astronomy, zoology, geology, history, 
etc. 

Teach the directions to children, north, east, south 
and west. Teach where the sun rises and sets and call 
attention to the way in which it comes into the school- 
room in the morning and in the afternoon. Lead chil- 
dren to observe, to think, and draw conclusions for 
themselves. Tell them to notice their own shadows as 
they come to school and as they go home. At twelve 
o'clock these shadows are so short that they can step 
on their own heads. By watching shadows you can 
tell almost what time of day it is. Before people had 

105 



clocks the farmers' wives had noon-marks on their 
kitchen floors. 

On a windy day, ask, "Children, how can we tell 
from which direction the wind is blowing?" ^(By look- 
ing at the trees, §ind at smoke.) Let the b*oys make 
paper whirligigs if they wish and put them out on the 
fence so that the wind may blow them. While they 
are interested in the subject make use of your Lan- 
guage lessons about the wind. Ask: "What are 
weather-vanes?" and "Of what use are windmills?" 

Teach the difference between real objects and pic- 
tures of them; also between pictures and plans (or 
maps). With a tape-line, measure the schoolroom, or 
have the children to do so. Then, draw the plan of the 
room on the board indicating where the windows and 
doors are. Show how the plan is smaller than the real 
room and yet is like it. Next let the children make 
their own plans on paper, this time putting in the 
desks and other furniture. Teach them how to draw 
with a scale of measurement. If a room is thirty feet 
long let this be represented on the board by three feet, 
or on paper by three inches. An inch may stand for 
any "certain" number, no matter what it is. It may 
stand for a foot, or for tweny feet. After spending 
a day or two on the school-room plan, draw that of 
the playground, and if the interest continues have the 
children to draw plans of their own homes and yards. 

Then show a map and ask if it is a plan. All maps 
are plans and all plans are maps. The only difference is 
that we call the drawings "plans" when they are of 
rooms, houses, yards, towns, or cities; and "maps" 
when they are of countries. Show and compare a 
picture of an island and a map of one, a picture of an 
isthmus and a map of one. Globes are useful in teach- 
ing Geography. Small ones may be bought for fifty 

106 



cents. Show two maps of the same country, one large 
and one small, and teach that though a map of a coun- 
try may be of any size, the country itself remains 
always the same size. 

Tell the children what a plain is ; that it is level like 
the school-room floor, white hills and mountains are 
high. A valley may be illustrated with the sand or 
with an open book, or a piece of cardboard folded to 
show the two slopes. The same thing reversed gives 
a good conception of a ridge or water shed. A ball of 
yarn with a hat pin through the center makes a minia- 
ture world on its axis, and with the same simple object, 
latitude and longitude may be explained. 

Ask, "How do you know there are other countries in 
the world?" "What have you seen that came from 
another country?" Miake them think and give an- 
swers. (Animals in circuses or zoological gardens; 
articles of food used at home, etc.) Talk of little chil- 
dren in other lands and ask why they dress differently 
and eat differently. Why does the Eskimo child eat 
bear meat and fish, and wear skins, while the boy in 
Africa wears few clothes ? The little children in Lap- 
land wear two pairs of stockings, then wrap their feet 
in dry grass before putting on their shoes. They wear 
two pairs of mittens, too, and their caps are lined with 
eiderdown. 

Ask why some people build houses of straw, others 
of wood and others of ice? Why do people irrigate the 
land in some places? 

Swiss boys and girls have a holiday when the men 
come home from the mountains with their flocks. As 
they go out to meet their fathers and brothers, they 
sing songs and wave flags, and in the villages, bells 
are rung. They have a merry, happy time. 

In Holland the children wear wooden shoes, and 

107 



sometimes they take them off and float them in the 
canals and play that they are boats. They tie strings 
to them so that they can pull them back. 

Esquimaux children cannot read or write. 

Japanese children take off their shoes before going 
into the school-room. They sit on the floor while they 
write and _study. They have no pens or pencils, but use 
brushes. Their writing is up and down the page in- 
stead of straight across, as ours. 

In Russia the children make ice hills and have great 
fun sliding down. They know all about skating. 

Tell about the ocean. The bottom is uneven like the 
land; there are mountains and valleys in it. In some 
places the water is only a few feet deep, and in others 
several miles. What are white caps ? Breakers? What 
is the surf? What does the word "brackish'' mean? 
What are billows? This brings up the subject of light- 
houses, or of life-boats. 

Ask the children if they had anything for breakfast 
that came from far away. Tell of coffee, tea, bananas, 
or spices. John Wilcox, Milford, N. Y., j)ublishes 
"Food Plant Charts" which contains pictures and de- 
scriptions of the food plants of commerce. These are 
sixty cents a piece and each chart tells of ten plants. 

Have review lessons and see that the children re- 
member about the things you tell them. Ask what is 
an isthmus? A cape? A strait? 

Tell about the five races and show, on your map of 
the world, the country inhabited by each. Create in 
the children such an interest in Geography that when 
the next year comes, and they are ready for a text- 
book, they will enter upon the work with zest. 

The following is quoted from a letter written by 
Miss Lizzie Abernathy, a successful teacher of Pulaski, 
Tenn. : 

108 



**I begin to instruct children in Geography when 
they are in the second grade ; that is, we talk about the 
world. They like that. I make them tell me all they 
know from what they have seen, and then I tell them 
about the part they have not seen. We use no books, 
but after I have explained the shape of the world, and 
the making of maps, we use a large map of the hemis- 
phere. Each day I require them to repeat what we 
talked about the day before. An apple, with a hatpin 
stuck through it, I use to represent the world for these 
little people. I can cut it into two parts to show the 
hemisphere. With a pin I can outline the continents 
upon it. 

"To explain the map of the hemisphere, I tell them 
that I have a friend that I want them to know about, 
and that this friend lives a long way off ; that I can tell 
them all about her and show them her picture. I pro- 
duce the picture, and after they have looked at it, I ask 
them about the color of her hair and eyes, her size, etc., 
to show them how incomplete a picture is. I have one 
of them to shut his eyes and pass his hand over the 
face of the picture and then over his own face to show 
how different a picture is from the real thing. 

"Next, I tell them about my friend's beautiful home. 
I say that I have no picture of that, but I can show 
them how it is on the board. I tell them about the 
garden, the walks, the different kinds of trees in the 
yard. I speak of one tree being on the east side of the 
house, another on the west side, etc. Then I go to the 
board and draw a plan of my friend's home. The chil- 
dren become interested and understand what I mean. 
Now I ask them which they would like best to look at 
— my friend's beautiful home, a picture of her home, 
or a plan of her home. I bring out all of the points of 
difference between objects, pictures, and maps (or 

109 



plans). We spend two or three days in making maps 
of the school-grounds. We call the right side of our 
map *east' and the left Vest' each time ; the top *north/ 
etc. 

"After this I make a map of something they are not 
familiar with, and describe it as I go to show how 
different is the picture formed in their minds from the 
representation on the board. I tell them that we will 
take trips now to see the world, and that this is the 
way we will do it: Some people have traveled about 
and made maps and pictures, and have written about 
the wonderful things they saw; we will get some of 
their books and look at the maps and pictures, and 
read what they say. 

''Besides preparing them for the study of Geogra- 
phy, I am getting better acquainted with the minds of 
these little folks. They become so much interested 
that they forget I am the teacher, and talk to me free- 
ly, and ask more questions than I can answer. 

''Next, with my apple cut half in two, and with the 
flat sides against the board, I explain the map of the 
hemispheres. This is very important. I show how it 
is that Asia appears both in the east and in the west, 
and I tell them to think of the hemispheres as standing 
out from the paper just as the apple stands out from 
the board. Pupils who have not been drilled in this 
will tell you that Greenland is southeast from the 
north pole. 

"From this time on we use both the apple and the 
map in our talks about the world. The children learn 
the principal divisions of land and water. Then I show 
them where we live, as it is represented on the map. 
From this point we take journeys in all directions. I 
describe everything of importance, as we go, and trace 
our course on the map. They remember it wonderfully 

110 



well. Soon, I send members of the class to the map 
and let them take us where they please — sightseeing. 
Their favorite journey is around the world; we take 
this trip in every possible way. The amount of in- 
struction given depends upon the age and intelligence 
of the children. I am guided mainly by their interest 
and enthusiasm." 

At the beginning of the third year text-books may 
be given to children. It may be necessary to explain to 
them how to use these. Each day instruct the class 
how to prepare the lesson for the next day, until your 
pupils are able to study alone. It is not fair to leave 
this part of school work to parents who already have 
plenty to do. 

Teach your pupils how to study without getting 
HELP AT HOME. One child comes to the class with poor 
lessons because he has not been taught how to study. 
Another has splendid lessons because some one at home 
has had the patience to sit down and drill them into his 
head for an hour or two each night. One may be as 
smart as the other. Neither reflects much credit on 
the teacher. One of the first things a child should 
learn is to do his own work and stand on his own 
merit. There are mothers who draw maps for their 
children, and these are handed in to the teacher as the 
pupil's work. What are those mothers doing but 
teaching children to be dishonest? In such cases it is 
plainly the duty of the teacher not to accept the work, 
but to have the child, before he leaves to draw the 
map himself. Kindly, but firmly, and without casting 
reflection on the parent, show why it is right for each 
child to do his own work and solve his own problems, 
no matter of what nature. Then when the time for 
reward comes, he will feel that he has justly earned it. 

Ill 



Have the children to study their first book in Geog- 
raphy very thoroughly before leaving it. It may take 
a year, or it may take two years to do this. Review 
often and teach them to spell the names of countries, 
cities, rivers, etc. Some of these will be very hard for 
little people, and must be taught slowly, a few at a 
time. Have the children to write lists of some of the 
proper names in each lesson. In reviewing, study the 
lessons topically. Have outdoor lessons when possible, 
especially if fortunate enough to have a stream near 
the school.. In Germany, the out-door schools have 
proved very successful. Give to each child some defi- 
nite work to do, something to investigate for himself. 
Plan and study for the lesson. Lead and direct. Have 
children to report what they learn. Direct their ob- 
servation. Stimulate and arouse thought. Do not 
let the lesson degenerate into a mere frolic. 

Do not ask questions which can be answered by 
"yes" and "no." Ask others besides those found in 
the book. Remember you do not want memory lessons 
merely, but the children must be taught to think. 
When subjects are hard to understand, try to sim- 
plify them with objects, drawings or pictures. Have 
map drawing on the board and on paper. A large 
map on the board may be started on Monday by one 
member of a class and throughout the week may be 
added to by others. Have maps showing the coal 
fields of the world, the manufacturing districts and 
farming lands. Sand maps, putty maps, or relief maps 
of burnt paper soaked into a pulp, may serve to show 
the drainage and surface of a country. 

Pulp maps can be made with bits of blotting or other 
soft paper soaked in water till it forms paste. A pinch 
of salt may be added. Rub together well. Outline map 
on pasteboard or wood surface. Put mixture within 

112 



outline. Model mountains, valleys, etc. Trace rivers 
with pencil or sharp stick. When dry, color rivers, 
lakes and oceans with blue pencil or water colors. 

Products may be taught in various ways. Children 
may bring lists of those found in certain countries. 
They may make maps and glue the products in the 
light places — little pieces of coal for the coal regions, 
sticks for lumber, gold paper for gold, and where other 
L.x ngo fail, pictu.es of things, or simply the names. 
A^ain, you may use a plan of this kind. Give, for 
instance, the products of the Mississippi Valley. Tell 
the children to draw these and arrange them in their 
own way. One child may fill his drawing sheet with 
little circles, and within one draw a bale of cotton, in 
another a bag of sugar, or picture of sugar cane, in 
another wheat, another corn, and in another a peanut. 
Under each may be printed the name and each may 
be colored if desired. The next drawing sheet, possi- 
bly, is altogether different — ^there are little oblong 
squares arranged in an artistic way, and the words 
"Products of the Mississippi Valley" printed zigzag 
across the face. Children are ingenious and enjoy the 
privilege of carrying out their own ideas. Draw a 
train of cars on the board. Print or write names of 
products on cars, showing with what the train is 
loaded. Draw a ship and write on the soils what is 
being brought in, as tea, coffee. Give one product for 
study, and see in how many forms it will be brought. 
Let us suppose it is ''sugar." One child may bring a 
piece of sugar cane, one a tiny bottle of molasses, one 
a lump of loaf sugar, another a bottle of brown sugar, 
and still another a tea-cake. All are made from the 
same thing. If cotton is the product there may be a 
cotton leaf, bloom, boll, seed, thread (white, black 
and colored), and pieces of cotton goods. Besides 

113 



these there a dozen things which may be put into little 
bottles, as cotton seed oil, cottolene, a medicine made 
from it, etc. If these collections are artistically ar- 
ranged on cardboard, they are interesting for public 
exhibitions. Wheat, corn, oats, all may be studied in 
the same general way. 

In studying a country always use a large map. If 
you haven't one, make one on the board, and locate 
each place mentioned. In teaching latitude and longi- 
tude show why it is necessary to have some place to 
measure from before you can measure. Take your 
apple or ball of yarn and stick a pin in it to repre- 
sent a person. Ask where he is on the ball? On the 
top? The bottom? The side? Turn the ball over. 
The children see why they must have some starting 
point. Now draw or mark by some means, a line to 
represent the equator, and show why another line is 
necessary — a meridian. Then explain that every circle 
has in it 360 degrees, and that one cannot get north 
from the equator more than 90 degrees — a fourth of a 
circle. Where would you place the pin to make the 
man 45 degrees north? (Half way between the north 
pole and the equator.) In the longitude show that 
the greatest dstance any one can get from the prime 
meridian is 180 degrees. Prepare the lesson always 
and think "How can I make it interesting to my class ?" 
"Is there anything to be explained, and if so, do I un- 
derstand it thoroughly myself?'* M'any children ask, 
"How can a person tell when they get to the north 
pole?" Make it plain with the use of an apple, an 
orange, or a globe. 

A little thing that is helpful to children in studying 
Geography is to tell them that there are five oceans, 
five great lakes, five continents, five divisions of land 
(island, peninsula, cape, isthmus, promontory), five 

114 



great powers of Europe. A lesson on "What you had 
for dinner yesterday" is suitable for Geography. Talk 
about where the things come from, how they grow, 
how they are prepared, etc. Look in the paper for the 
market column, and, cutting out the list of things sold 
at the groceries, use it for a lesson. On Friday after- 
noon occasionally have all the Geography classes to 
unite and study about one country, as "China.*' Have 
compositions, readings, facts and pictures. Maybe 
some child has a pair of chop-sticks to show, another 
some Chinese shoes. "If you have Africa," one can 
tell of Livingston, one of Stanley, and some of the 
larger pupils the main facts of the war between the 
Boers and English. Let somebody tell of Egypt with 
its ancient monuments, and another of the pigmies 
who dwelt within the dark forest. A journey through 
the desert may be described and the diamond industry 
talked of. Show magazine pictures of Roosevelt on 
his hunts and tell about the interesting things he sees 
and writes of at the present time. 

If "Tennessee" is studied, have a large sand-map, 
showing the surface and drainage. Let strings repre- 
sent the railroads, and buttons the cities. Have one 
pupil to explain the eight natural divisions, another 
the rivers, another the cities and another the products. 

If the map of Europe is being studied, and the chil- 
dren find it difficult to learn the countries and their 
capitals, give one to each child. Say, "Mary, draw a 
small map of Trance' tomorrow. Cut it out with the 
scissors and come to the class with it pinned on your 
dress. Find out everything you can about France in 
your lesson." Give to another child "England," to 
another "Russia," etc. If one does well in his recita- 
tion ask him to lecture before the school next morn- 
ing. Teach pupils to not only have a knowledge of 

115 



things, but to tell what they know clearly. Invent 
Geography games for Friday, or have an occasional 
Geography match. Teach Geography in connection 
with Literature and History after the text-book is 
completed. 

Assign lessons clearly so that children will not make 
mistakes and study the wrong ones. In studying a 
map (that of New England States, for instance) teach 
the capitals and principal cities for one lesson, rivers, 
bays and lakes for another. Have the children to study 
alphabetically; let them write the name of everything 
beginning with "a" as "Atlantic," "Augusta;" the 
names beginning with "b," as "Bangor," "Boston,' 
"Burlington," etc. 

Call attention to the events happening in various 
parts of the world, and teach Geography in connection 
with them. Have children to take trips on the maps ; 
ask "Through what waters would you pass in going 
from Chicago to New York?" Allow the children to 
make a Geography scrap-book and paste into it clip- 
pings which they help to collect. Be wide awake and 
seek to make each lesson full of interest to your pupils. 



Helps. Frye's "Child and Nature" and Frye's 
"Teacher Manual," published by Ginn & Co., Boston. 

Parker's "How to Teach Geography," Appleton & 
Co. 

"The New Geography," Trotter, published by D. C. 
Heath & Co., Atlanta. 

"Little People of Other Lands," and Frye's "Brooks 
and Brook Basins," Ginn & Co., Boston. 

Nature Readers, published by educational publishers 
everywhere. 



116 



CHAPTER X 
History 

No one can successfully teach a lesson in History 
without thoroughly mastering the facts. View it from 
every standpoint, look up in other books all obscure 
points, be familiar with the meaning of each word. 
Ask yourself "Who is this lesson about? What hap- 
pened? When? Where? Why?" Be able to locate 
every place mentioned, to give every date. Know more 
than your text-book gives. Consult other sources of 
information. Be filled with your subject, but present 
to your class only the most important things. 

First lessons should be short and should be read and 
discussed in the class; the pupils will thus become 
familiar with their new books. Teach them how to 
study; to ask themselves "Who? Where? When?" etc. 

Do not allow them to memorize nor to answer only 
those questions asked in the book. At the close of each 
lesson have a brief review of the points to be noted. 
Ask questions in every form possible. Turn and twist 
them in such a way that the class will be compelled to 
know them. 

Until children have learned to study alone, go over 
with them each day the lesson for the day following. 
Call attention to words which may be difficult for 
them. Have them to locate all places mentioned; 
either find them on the Geographies or on the wall 
map. 

117 



Write sentences on the board, leaving blanks to be 
supplied by the children. If the lesson is about Colum- 
bus, write: 

In the old city of , in Italy, there once 

lived a little boy whose name was 

His father was a He loved to watch 

the on the Sea. 

If the lesson is about Indians, write: 

Indians lived in tents called 

An Indian baby is called a 

An Indian woman is called a 

An Indian chief is called a 

Indians lived by and 

The did all the cooking. 

Teach only the most important dates. Write the 
first one at the top of the board, and have each child 
to write it on the fly leaf or blank page of his history. 
Next day, if another is to be learned, place it just un- 
der the first, and as a new one is presented, place it 
under the last one written. In this way one date leads 
to and suggests another, and around them can be 
grouped a chain of facts which will be better remem- 
bered because of the foundation. Among the impor- 
tant dates in the early part of United States history 
are: 

1492 

1497 

1512 

1513 

1521 

1565 
Try to get the children to fix these firmly in their 
minds one at a time, so that the list can be recited by 

118 



all, with its accompanying fact or facts. Teach the 
rhyme : 

*'In fourteen hundred and ninety-two 
Columbus sailed the ocean blue." 

Children may themselves make verses, and in this 
way impress the facts of history on their minds. Give 
them a few ideas about how to begin, and write on 
the board some words which rhyme. If they are 
studying about Columbus, for instance, these words 
are suggestive: 

sea Spain queen 

three main seen 

free vain green 



mood 


trip 


west 


food 


ship 


best 


rude 


dip 


dressed 


afraid 


abroad 


boat 


made 


roared 


float 


stayed 


hoard 


note 


land 


more 


gold 


band 


ashore 


told 


sand 


roar 


sold 


grew 


spice 


sails 


new 


nice 


tales 


blew 


day 


sees 


blue 


way 


trees 


the early settlements these dates 


; are important : 




1607 






1608 






1613 






1620 






1630 






119 





As you add new ones, put all of the old ones on the 
board, and have the class to give the facts connected 
with each. Pointing to "1607," let the children say: 
"Jamestown was settled." Pointing to "1608," "Que- 
bec was settled,' etc. Have the answers recited in con- 
cert and then separately by the pupils. 

Allow children to make history books and to put into 
them drawings, compositions and tables. When they 
study about Indians, they may draw a wigwam, a 
tomahawk, a canoe, or Indian vessel. Again they may 
write lists of Indians, or Indian tribes. Tables of this 
kind may be made : 

EXPLORERS 



Name 


Nationality 


Date 


Cause of Fame 


Columbus 


Italian. Employed by 
the Spanish. 


149^ 


Discovered the 
West Indies 


Cabot 


Italian. Employed by 
the English. 


1497 


Discovered main 
land N. America 


P. de Leon 


Spaniard. 


1512 


Discovered Florida 



SETTLEMENTS 



Name 


Nationality 


Date 


One Leading Man 


Jamestown 
Plymouth 


English. 
English. 


1607 
1620 


John Smith 
Miles Standish 



WARS 



Name 


Dates 


Fought By 


Victory 


Revolution 


1775-1781 


American & English 


Americans 



120 



In the same way tables of battles may be made 



Name 



Date 



Commanders 



Result 



PRESIDENTS 



Name 


State 


Term 


Date 


Leading Events 


Washin^on 


Va. 


2 


1789 


Vermont, Kentucky and 

Tennessee admitted as 

States, etc. 


Adams 


Mass. 


1 


1797 


Alien and Sedition Laws, 
etc. 


Jefferson 


Va. 


2 


1801 


War with Tripoli, Purchase 
of Louisiana, etc. 



Compositions, questions, maps, tables, drawings, 
poetry, lists, all may be copied by the children into 
their history books. Poems and pictures may be 
pasted in. Combine language lessons with history, and 
for busy work have pupils to make lists of the prin- 
cipal characters of whom they have studied, of the 
places mentioned and battles fought. There may be 
also lists of explorers, settlements, dates, wars, heroes, 
ships, etc. 

Have frequent reviews and have variety in them. 
Write on the board questions, topics, or names, and 
have the children to recite from themi. On one day 
have pencils and tablets brought to the class, and tell 
the children to put down twelve numbers, or fourteen, 
or twenty, according to the time allowed for recitation. 
Then for number "one," have them to write the name 
of the man who discovered Florida ; for number "two,** 
the man who discovered the Pacific Ocean; number 

121 



"three/' the man who conquered Mexico; number 
"four," the man for whom America was nam^d ; num- 
ber "five," the name of the first permanent English 
settlement, etc. When all have finished, call out the 
answer to number "one," number "two," number 
'three," and on to the end. Tell the children to draw 
a line through all which they have missed. See who 
has given the greatest number of correct answers. 

Have a review lesson giving out proper names and 
words to be spelled by the pupils. 

Read a description of a character about whom they 
have studied and let them guess who it is. Give cards 
with dates written on them and have pupils to identify 
the facts connected with each. Use only important 
dates. 

Hold up letters and have children give names of 
noted persons and places beginning with those letters. 
Make it a game and see who can win the greatest 
number of letters. 

Have History matches, allowing children to trap 
each other, or to have sides in the old-fashioned way, 
each one sitting down when he has missed a certain 
number of questions. 

Tell the children to write questions on the lessons, 
and to try to get hard ones. Require these to be writ- 
ten plainly and distinctly, and then to be cut into slips 
of paper ready for use. They may be put into several 
envelopes or boxes, and labeled, "Questions for the 
Primary History Class." On Fridays allow the chil- 
dren to study them. Have system and order about 
their distribution so that each child may have each 
box from which to study. After they have had suffi- 
cient time to learn, then have the match or game. 

Another day, write in bold, plain letters on small 

122 



pieces of paper the names of prominent characters 
about whom the pupils have studied, and allowing one 
child to stand, pin a name on his back. Let the others 
look at it and tell him something about that person 
until he guesses who it is. If he has the name *Toca- 
hontas," one will say, "She was called the Lady Re- 
becca;" another, "She married John Rolfe;" and 
another, "She saved John Smiths life." The one who 
is standing guesses correctly, a little girl then has a 
name pinned on her back, and so the game continues. 
Children may impersonate characters and allow the 
others to guess who they are. One may say, "I am the 
man who tried so hard to found colonies in America. 
I lived in the time of Queen Elizabeth and later James 
I. Elizabeth liked me, but King James had me put into 
prison." One will guess "Sir Walter Raleigh," and 
another child begins. In these games and reviews 
don't let the brightest children monopolize the lesson, 
but give all a chance. 

Debates on historical subjects are a source of pleas- 
ure to the little folks. An easy subject is: "Resolved 
that George Washington was greater than Christo- 
pher Columbus." Another is: "Resolved that the In- 
dians were unjustly treated by the white people." 

For composition work write subjects on shps of 
paper, and turning them face downward on a book or 
table, let each child draw one to write about. 

Where a poem can be read to advantage to a history 
class, make use of it. If the Revolution is being studied 
read aloud Paul Revere's Ride. Selections from Evan- 
geline may be used at the proper time and the Court- 
ship of Miles Standish. In your collection of pictures 
show those which bear on the lessons. 

Make a History scrap book, and put into it clippings 
and pictures, allowing the children to help. Use^your 

123 



own outlines on the blackboard if they are better suited 
to your class than those given in the text-book. Be 
original and keep up the interest. 

Make the children feel that the men, women and 
children about whom they study, were real beings like 
ourselves; that they had feelings and pleasures and 
disappointments; that they were real flesh and blood 
and not merely names. 

A little boy, who had lived all of his life in the coun- 
try, traveled through Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 
When he crossed the rivers whose names he had learned 
in his Geography lessons, he was much surprised and 
said : "Mamma, I didn't know there were really such 
rivers in the world. I thought they were put in the 
book just to make it hard for little boys and girls to 
learn." So it is in some History classes. With many 
children the names they learn there convey no thought, 
no idea. They are simply names to them and nothing 
more. 

Try to make your lessons attractive so that the chil- 
dren will almost imagine that they were back with 
those people and knew them and lived as they did. 
Cause the dry facts of history to teem with life and 
vigor. Let the children know that all of these things 
we study about had their influence on us, on our coun- 
try, on the world — just as the way in which we live 
now will bear fruit hereafter. Dwell on the characters 
of those who have done something for humanity, of 
those whose lives were spent for the uplifting and up- 
building of the world. Then teach that God is in His- 
tory; that out of all the dreadful things which men 
have caused to happen— the battles, the bloodshed, the 
millions of lives lost — God has worked good to the 
world ; and that slowly, but surely, it is growing better. 
In the last half century the United States has arbi- 

124 



trated between nations many times and prevented war. 
The time will come when the swords will be turned 
into plowshares, and when all the earth will be filled 
with the knowedge of the Lord. 

Do not confuse the minds of young children with 
trivial and unimportant facts and dates. Look at the 
lesson as a whole, and choose from it the parts to be 
impressed on the child mind. 

Do not allow the lesson to drag, but be wide-awake, 
well-informed, interested, and try to inspire your 
pupils with a desire to learn and to find out things 
for themselves. Encourage search work; discourage 
mere memorizing. Sometimes a pupil will say: "Tell 
me where it is on the page and I will tell you the an- 
swer." This is all wrong. A pupil should know a les- 
son whether the teacher begins at the bottom or the 
top of the page. Break up this habit if it exists in 
your classes; do noj: allow it. Begin at the end or in 
the middle, or anywhere in the lesson. One day start 
with one boy or girl, and the next day with another. 
Surprise the children, keep them on the alert. Do 
not let them know who will be called on next. 

Be enthusiastic and your feeling will be communi- 
cated to your class. If there is one who will not study 
talk to him privately. Find out where the trouble lies. 
Perhaps he is discouraged or does not know how to 
study or is too far advanced. If he is not classified 
correctly, do not do him an injustice by keeping him 
in the class. If he is simply backward, encourage and 
praise him when you can, and never ridicule him. A 
little encouragement sometimes works wonders. 

Have pupils to study a subject well and lecture be- 
fore the class, using maps and blackboard. Teach them 
to express their thoughts in clear, definite language, 
and to feel easy and not embarrassed before others. 

125 



Occasionally, as a reward, let a studious child con- 
duct the lesson, and you stand at the back of the room 
and listen, interrupting only when necessary. 

Do not repeat questions. Train your pupils to be 
attentive and to listen closely. Speak distinctly and 
know the lesson so thoroughly that you can teach with- 
out the textbook. When reviewing, ask questions 
rapidly, in as many forms as possible, and see that 
all have a part in the recitation. 




126 



CHAPTER XI 
Special Programs 

The following are not complete programs, but are 
merely suggestive. Ingenious teachers can adapt and 
arrange songs, poems, or facts, to suit different occa- 
sions. A welcome address, composed by the teacher 
or pupil, may be given by a small boy. 

Rhymes may be made and taught to a class of little 
ones. A public school teacher, who is full of original 
ideas, wrote an alphabet for her "Tennessee" program, 
and had each child to learn a verse : 

A is for America, the home of the free. 

B is the Banner that floats over me. (The child who 

recites this line carries banner or flag.) 
C is for Country, our joy and our pride. 
D is our Duty, its laws to abide. 
E is for Emigrant, seeking a home, 
F is for Freedom for which he had come. 
G is the Grant which gave him the land, 
H is the Hope which strengthened his hand. 
I is the Indian who threatened his life, etc. 

Words of songs may be changed, if necessary, and 
adapted to familiar tunes. Songs, recitations, and in- 
teresting facts should be collected from various sources 
and pasted into scrap-books, ready for use when 
needed. 

127 



TENNESSEE 



Have maps of Tennessee on the wall. 



Facts. (To be given separately by a class of little 
boys.) 

1. Indians once lived here. 

2. Tennessee means **River with the great bend." 

3. DeSoto passed through Tennessee. 

4. LaSalle built a fort where Memphis now is. 

5. Daniel Boone was a great hunter. 

6. William Bean built the first cabin in Tennessee. 

7. It was built on Boone's Creek. 

8. Bean came in 1769. 

9. His settlement was called the "Watauga" settle- 
ment. 

Concert Recitation. (To be used by any number 
of pupils.) 

**0f Tennessee the meaning is 
*The river with its bend/ 
Whose waters run below the State 
And cross at either end. 

"This State mines coal and iron, 
And marble, pink and green; 
It has a healthy climate 
And many a lovely scene. 

"Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, 

Are handsome cities three, 
And Chattanooga also 
Is worth a trip to see. 

"The heights of Lookout Mountain 
Above the mists and cloud, 
Once knew the tread of armies 
And noise of battle loud." — St. Nicholas. 
128 



Subjects for Compositions : 

Watauga. 
John Sevier. ^ 
James Robertson. 
Indian Tribes. 
Cumberland Settlement. 
Thomas Sharpe Spencer. 
Schools of Tennessee. 

Debate. Resolved that James Robertson was the 
real father of Tennessee, and not John Sevier ; or 

Debate. Resolved that John Sevier was the great- 
est man connected with the early history of Tennessee. 

Facts. (To be given separately by a class of little 
girls.) 

1. A part of Tennessee was once called "Miro Dis- 
trict." 

2. John Sevier was our first Governor. 

3:. Samuel Doak taught the first school in Ten- 
nessee. 

4. Nashville was first called Nashborough. 

5. Murfreesboro was the capital for six years. 

6. Thomas Sharpe Spencer lived during one winter 
in a hollow tree. 

7. John Donelson came to Nashville in a boat called 
the "Adventure." 

8. Jonesboro is the oldest town in Tennessee. 

9. Russell Bean was the first white child born in 
Tennessee. 

Song. Tune, "Beulah Land." 
1 "The land of pure and balmy air, 

Of streams so clear and skies so fair; 
Of mountains grand and fountains free, 
The lovely land of Tennessee. 

129 



CHORUS. 

"0 Tennessee! Fair Tennessee! 
The land of all the earth for me ; 
I stand upon thy mountains high 
And hold communion with thy sky ; 
I view the glowing landscape o'er, 
Old Tennessee forevermore. 

2 "The fairest of the fair we see, 

The bravest of the brave have we; 
The freest of the noble free 
In battle scarred old Tennessee. 

3 **The rarest fruits and fairest flowers 

And happiest homes on earth are ours. 
If heaven below could only be, 
'Twould surely shine in Tennessee." 

— A. J. Holt. 



OCTOBER. 
Address of Welcome. By a small boy. 
Recitation. "Come, Little Leaves." (Metcalfs 
Elementary English.) 
Recitation. For a little girl. 

" 'Little maid, pretty maid, 
Where goest thou? 
*Down to the meadow 

To milk my cow.' 
*May I go with thee?' 

'No, not now; 
When I call for thee 
Then come thou.' " 
130 



Song. Tune, ^'Marching Through Georgia." 

1 "Pretty wreathes of maple leaves 

Upon our heads we wear, 
Some are yellow, some are red, 
And some are green and fair. 
To the woodland ways we went 
And found them scattered there, 
0, what a bright, pretty carpet! 

CHORUS. 

"Hurrah! hurrah! for maple trees so gay, 
That gild with brightness all the woodland way 
Making fair and beautiful each glad October day, 
Ere comes the cold frosty winter. 

2 "Could the little leaves but speak 

They'd tell so many things. 

Of the summer sky so blue 

And gleam of lovely wings ; 

Of the joy and beauty 

That the glad October brings 

Ere comes the cold, frosty winter.'* 

Verse. For a little girl. 

"In October the leaves are colored 
By a touch from the artist Jack Frost, 
And the late flowers — the cosmos and aster — 
Replace the blossoms we've lost." 

Concert Recitation. October. 

1 "0, the fair October 

Once again is here; 
'Tis the golden season. 
Of the long, long year. 

131 



2 "Ripened nuts and apples 

Now are dropping down, 
And each woodland monarch 
Wears a golden crown. 

3 "Soon o'er hill and forest, 

Wintry winds will blow; 
And the world will glisten 
With the fair white snow." 

Song. "October Gave a Party." Tune, "Faith is 
the Victory," omitting chorus. 

1 October gave a party. 

The leaves by hundreds came; 
The chestnut, oak and maple 

And leaves of every name. 
The sunshine spread a carpet (1) 

And everything was grand ; 
Miss Weather lead the dancing, (2) 

Professor Wind the band. (3) 

2 The chestnuts came in yellow, 

The oaks in crimson dressed, 
The lovely Misses Maples 

In scarlet looked their best. 
All balanced to their partners (4) 

And gaily fluttered by; (5) 
The sight was like a rainbow (6) 

New fallen from the sky. 

3 Then in the rustic hollow 

At hide and seek they played; 
The party closed at sundown 
But everybody stayed. 

132 



Professor Wind played louder (7) 

Then flew along the ground, 
And then the party ended 

With hands across all round. (8) 

— Song Stories for Little Folks. 

(This song is very effective with accompanying mo- 
tions. There should be an even number of children.) 

DIRECTIONS. 

1. Use both hands in downward sweep as if spread- 
ing a carpet. 

2. Left foot forward. Position as if ready to dance. 

3. Both hands up as if playing a cornet, or hand 
raised as if to keep time. 

4. Partners balance or bow to each other. 

5. Fluttering motion with fingers. 

6. Hands arched above the head. 

7. Same motion as 3. 

8. Form a circle with crossed hand. March around 
several times, then break ranks and march out two by 
two. 

Quotations about October. 

Recitation. Mr. Crow's Opinion. 

" *I declare,' cried Mr. Crow, 

One fine October day, 
I'm really glad to see the wrens 

And blackbirds fly away; 
Glad to see the orioles 

And bluebirds southward bound, 
For none appreciate my voice 

When other songs abound. 

133 



My coat of black seems commonplace 

Besides those birds so gay; 
So, I declare, I'm really glad 

To see them fly away.' " 

— Selected. 

Song. Autumn. Tune, "Spanish Cavalier." 
The happy autumn days we welcome again, 

They whisper the same olden story 
Of meadows so brown, and nuts falling down 

And woodlands robed in splendor and glory. 

CHORUS. 

Sweet autumn days we welcome again. 
When beauty around us is lying; 

Ere from the cold north 

King Winter comes forth 

To send a million snowflakes a-flying. 

beautiful is May, when all the earth is gay, 
And woodland ailes with birds are singing, 

Yet fair are the days when glad harvest ways 
Re-echo to the reaper's glad singing. 

— Selected. 
Recitation. Down to Sleep. Helen Hunt Jackson. 

Verse. For little boy or girl. 
The golden-rod is yellow. 

The corn is turning brown; 
The trees in apple orchards 

With fruit are bending down. 

— Helen Hunt Jackson. 
134 



THANKSGIVING 
Bible Quotations. For opening exercise. 
Psalms. 



Chapter. 


Verse. 


Chapter. 


Verse. 


24 


1 


100 


3 


34 


1 


100 


5 


66 


8 


103 


land 2 


75 


1 


105 


1 


92 


1 


106 


1 


90 


1 


113 


2 


Psalm 117 







Concert Recitation. 

Thank God for beauty broadcast 

Over our own dear land; 
Thank God, who to feed his children, 

Opens His bounteous hand; 
Thank God for the lavish harvests. 
Thank Him from strand to strand. 

— Margaret Sangster. 

Song. Thanksgivng Day. Lydia Maria Child. 
(Found in Metcalf s Elementary English.) 

Composition. Story of the First Thanksgiving. 
(Found in U. S. Histories.) 
Song. Tune, ''Yankee Doodle." 

What matters it the cold wind*s blast, 
What matters though 'tis snowing, 
Thanksgiving Day has come at last, 

To grandmama's we're going. 
I'm sure we'll find sweet cakes and nuts 

And pumpkin pies so yellow. 
For grandma knows just how to suit 
Each hungry little fellow. 

— Selected. 

135 



Thanksgiving Hymn. 

1 Can a little child like, me 
Thank the Father fittingly? 
Yes, yes ; be good and true, 
Patient, kind, in all you do; 
Love the Lord and do your part, 
Learn to say with all your heart, 

Father, we thank Thee! 
Father, we thank Thee! 
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee! 

2 For the fruit upon the tree. 
For the birds that sing of Thee, 
For the earth in beauty dressed, 
Father, mother and the rest; 
For Thy precious loving care. 
For Thy bounty everywhere. 

Father, we thank Thee! 
Father, we thank Thee! 
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee! 

— Mary Mapes Dodge. 

Psalm 95. From the first through half of the 
seventh verse. (Use as concert recitation, requiring 
children to speak distinctly.) 

Recitation. For little boys and girls. 

"All things bright and beautiful. 
All creatures great and small. 
All things wise and wonderful. 
The Lord God made them all." ^ 

"All good gifts around us 
Are sent from Heaxen above. 
Then thank the Lord, 
Yes, thank the Lord, 
For all His love." 
136 



Song. Father, We Thank Thee for the Night. (See 
Chapter IV, Morning Exercises.) 

Song. 

" 'Give/ said the little stream, 
*Give, O give. Give, give. 
Give,' said the little stream, 
As it wandered down the hill. 
*I'm small, I know, but wherever I go 
Give, give; give, give — 
Fm small, I know, but wherever I go 
The fields grow greener still.* 

"Singing, singing all the day, 
'Give, give; give away.' 
Singing, singing all the day, 
'Give, give away.' " 

Song. Bringing in the Sheaves. (As this is being 
sung, have children to march to rostrum and deposit 
gifts for poor people — clothes, provisions, etc.) 

Song. Doxology. 



CHRISTMAS. 



Matthew, second chapter, first ten verses. (Use as 
a concert recitation, or give to each child a verse.) 

Song. Joy to the World. 

Composition. Christmas. 

Recitation. 

If I were only Santa Claus 

And Santa Claus was me, 
I'd show him just what a good 

Old Santa Claus I'd be. 
137 



I'd always bring the finest toys 

And story books to him, 
I'd find his big old stocking 

And fill it to the brim. 
I'd put in lots of candy, 

All the candy it would hold; 
And then I'd fill up all the cracks 

With heaps and heaps of gold. 
And when they saw how good I was, 

How happy folks would be. 
If I were only Santa Claus, 

And Santa Claus was me? 

— Selected. 

Reading from 'The Bird's Christmas Carol," by 
Kate Douglas Wiggin. 

Song. Christmas Bells. Tune, Ring the Bells of 
Heaven. 

1 Ring, bells in gladness. 

Tell of joy today; 
Ring and swing o'er all the world so wide. 

Banish thoughts of sadness. 

Drive all care away. 
For it is the Merry Christmas tide. 

CHORUS. 

Ring, bells, from spire and swelling dome, 
Ring and bid the peaceful ages come ; 

Banish thoughts of sadness. 
Drive all grief away. 
For it is the Merry Chrstmas Day. 

2 Rng, bells, the story 

From the ages far; 
Of the Chrstmas joy and song and Ight; 
138 



How the wondrous glary 
Of the Chrstmas star 
Led the shepherds onward through the nght. 

—Alice Jean Cleator. 

Recitation. Christmas. 

Do you wish you could keep your watch by night 

Like the shepherds of Bethlehem? 
Do you wish you could see a glory light 

As it shone in the sky for them? 

Have you kept your watch in the fields afar, 
Where the heathen in darkness dwell ? 

Have you watched in the east for the rising star 
That shall lead to Immanuel? 

Have you seen how the Gospel of God's good will 

Is spreading through heathen climes ? 
Have you heard how they call on the Lord, until 
It is sweet as the angel chimes? 

I tell you the Christmas glory now 

Is a thousand times more bright 
Than the glory that shone so long ago 
On the first glad Christmas night. 

The earth shall be full of the knowledge of God ! 

It is blessedly drawing near! 
And peace on earth, good will to men. 

Shall come with the Lord's New Year. 

— ^LucY Wheeler. 

Recitation. Keeping Jesus' Birthday. (For three 
little girls.) 

1 How shall little hearts keep Christmas 
When the earth is wrapped in snow? 
Little hearts must all be loving. 
For in loving, love will grow. 
139 



2 How shall little hands keep Christmas 

When the winds of winter blow? 
Little hands make gifts for giving. 
In this way our love to show. 

3 How shall little lips keep Christmas 

When the winter stars shine clear? 
Little lips may sing glad praises 
To the gentle Christ-child dear. 

All So may hearts and hands and voices. 
All together Christmas keep; 
Once a child and now our Shepherd, 
Jesus, guard thy lambs and sheep. 

— Margaret Coote Brown. 

Song. Happy Christmas Time. (Tune, "Tenderly, 
Soft and Sweet," found in Young Peoples' Hymnal, 
published by Methodist Publishing House, Nashville.) 

1 Happy Christmas time ! 

Merry Christmas time! 
In our school room pleasant, 
Boys and girls all present, 
Gladly our songs we sing, 
Gladly our voices ring, 
Welcome now to all we give you. 

CHORUS. 

List to our carols 

Joyfully we sing, 
List to our carols, 
Hear our voices ring. 
Welcome to our schoolroom, 
We welcome you today, 
Welcome to one and all. 
140 



2 Happy Christinas time! 
Merry Christmas time ! 
"Peace on earth/' the angels 
Told the shepherds in the fields, 
"Good will to men;" 

We tell it to you again, 

And "Glory unto God in the highest." 

3 Repeat first verse and chorus. — B. D. M. 

Recitation. Christmas everywhere. 
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight! 
Christmas in lands of the fir tree and pine, 
Christmas in lands of the palm tree and vine, 
Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white, 

Christmas where cornfields lie sunny and bright. 

Christmas where children are hopeful and gay, 
Christmas where old men are patient and gray, 
Christmas where peace like a dove in his flight 
Broods o'er brave men in the thick of the fight ; 
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight! 

For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all ; 
No palace too great and no cottage too small. 

—Phillips Brooks. 

Christmas Quotations. 

God bless us every one.— Dickens. 
I heard the bells on Christmas day 
Their old familiar carols play. 
And wild and sweet 
The words repeat: 
Of "Peace on earth, good will to men." 

— Longfellow. 

141 



For they who think of others most, 
Are the happiest folks that live. 

— Phoebe Gary. 

The best of Christmas joy, 

Dear little boy or girl, 

That comes on that merry-making day, 

Is the happiness of giving 

To another child, that's living, 

Where Santa Glaus has never found the way. 

— Youth's Gompanion. 

Dialogue. Gifts for the Pets. 
First Ghild. 

Oh! I've such fun with that little kitten of mine. 

She's the cutest that ever you saw; 
She'll sit in a corner as still as a mouse 

And reach out her dear little paw 
To catch at my dress, when I'm going by; 

Now what shall I get — what would you ? 
To give her for Ghristmas — some ribbon I guess. 

She's white — she'll look lovely in blue. 

Second Ghild. 

I tell you my dog is worth all your cats ; 

I wouldn't sell him for a dollar. 
I am going to get him for Ghristmas, I think, 

A nice new silver collar. 
When he's hungry he always jumps up in a chair; 

He can put out his paw to shake hands ; 
And there isn't a word in any big book 

But what MY dog understands. 

Third Child. 

You all ought to see my sweet little bird. 
And hear it some day when it sings; 
142 



It fluffs up the feathers so high on its neck < 

And spreads out its dear little wings, 

And dances and flutters around in its cage ; 
rm sure I don't know what to make 

Or buy, that would be nice enough ; so I guess 
I will give him some candy and cake. 

Fourth Child. 

I wish I could show you the dear little sock 

I'm knitting to hang on the wall. 
For our little baby, when Santa Glaus comes. 

Oh! she is the sweetest of all. 
I'm afraid that old Santa don't know she's here; 

I must write him a letter today, 
And tell him to put in her little pink sock 

The best that he has in his sleigh. 

— Selected. 

Recitation. 
"In memory of that wonderful birth 

We keep our beautiful Christmas time; 
Filled with plenty and joy and mirth, 

Gay with singing and bell's sweet chime; 
Glad with giving in happy glee. 

Glad with receiving gifts of love. 
Glad with the thought that for you and me 
Came that gift of a Saviour from above." 

From Christmas papers, Sunday school quarterlies 
and magazines you may glean many helpful ideas about 
a Christmas program. . • ^ 

Claude J. Bell Nashville, Tenn., has a ^charming 
booklet called "Christmas Entertainment, for lb 

cents. , X 

From Davd C. Cook, Elgn, 111., you can buy for 
reasonable prices a variety of materials for Christmas 

decoration. 

143 



WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY. 
Have pictures of Washington on the wall. 
Song. America. 

1 My country, *tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died! 
Land of the pilgrim's pride ! 
From every mountain side 

Let freedom ring. 

2 My native country, thee, 
Land of the jioble free, 

Thy name I love; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills; 
My heart with rapture thrills 

Like that above. 

3 Our father's God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty, 

To Thee we sing ; 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light; 
Protect us by thy might. 

Great God, our King. 

Our Flag. (For several little tots, one carrying a 
flag.) 

I love the name of Washington, 

I love my country, too. 
I love the flag, the dear old flag 
Of red, white and blue. 

144 



Red says, **Be brave." 
White says, "Be pure." 
Blue says, "Be true." 

Composition. Story of the first flag. 

Flag Song. 

Recitation. (For a little girl.) 

1 I cannot be a Washington, 

However hard I try; 
But into something I must grow 
As fast the days go by. 

2 The world needs women good and true, 

I'm glad I can be one, 
For that is even better than 
To be a Washington. 

3 To be as great as Washington 

We could not if we would; 
And so we have made up our minds 
To try to be as good. 

Quotation. 

"Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime; 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time." 

— ^Longfellow. 

Composition. What are heroes. 

Flag Drill. 

145 



Concert Recitation. (For several children.) 

1 "Pale is the February sky, 

And brief the mid-day's sunny hours; 
The wind swept forest seems to sigh 

For the sweet time of leaves and flowers. 

2 "Yet has no month a prouder day, 

Not even when summer broods 
O'er meadows in their fresh array, 
Or autumn tints the glowing woods. 

3 "For this chill season now again 

Brings, in its annual round, the morn 
When, greatest of the sons of men, 
Our glorious Washington was born." 

Song. Star Spangled Banner. 

Facts. (For the smallest children.) 

1. Washington was born at Wakefield. 

2. Washington loved his mother. 

3. He was neat and careful in his work. 

4. He was our first President. 

5. He died at Mt. Vernon. 

Maxims of Washington. 

1. Think before you speak. 

2. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be 
careful to keep your promise. 

3. Let your recreation be manly, not sinful. 

Gladstone said of Washington : "The purest figure 
in history." 

RiCARD Henry Lee said: "First in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

146 



LONGFELLOW'S BIRTHDAY. 
February 27th. 
Welcome Address. 

Facts. (See Chapter VIIL February.) 
Recitation. The Wreck of the Hesperus. 
Composition. Longfellow's Early Life. (Cry's 
Second Reader.) 

Longfellow's First Poem. Mr. Finney's Turnip. 

1 Mr. Finney had a turnip 
And it grew, and it grew; 
And it grew behind the barn 
And the turnip did no harm. 

2 And it grew, and it grew. 
Till it could grow no taller; 
Then Mr. Finney took it up 
And he put it in the cellar. 

3 There it lay, there it lay, 
Till it began to rot. 

Then his daughter Susie took it 
And she put it in the pot. 

4 She boiled it, and she boiled it. 
As long as she was able; 
Then his daughter Lizzie took it 
And put it on the table. 

5 Mr. Finney and his wife 
Both sat down to sup, 
And they ate, and they ate, 
Till they ate the turnip up. 

147 



Concert Recitation. The Village Blacksmith. 

Quotations from Longfellow. 

Song. Building. (Published by the American Book 
Company, Chicago.) 

Concert Recitation. (By the school.) 
1 "With a glory of winter sunshine 
Over his locks of gray, 
In the old historic mansion 
He sat on his last birthday. 

"With his books and pleasant pictures 
And his household and his kin. 
While a sound as of myriads singing 
From far and near stole in. 

3 "And his heart grew warm within him, 
And his moistening eyes grew dim. 
For he knew that his country's children 
Were singing songs of him." 



MOTHER'S DAY. 



Recitation. (For a boy.) 

"A fellow's mother," said Harry the wise, 
With his rosy cheeks and merry eyes, 
"Knows what to do if a fellow gets hurt 
By a thump, or a bruise, or a fall in the dirt. 

"A fellow's mother has bags and strings. 
Rags and boxes and lots of things; 
No matter how busy she is, she'll stop 
To see how well you can spin your top." 
148 



3 "She doesn't care, not much I mean, 
If a fellow's face isn't always clean ; 

And if your trousers are torn at the knee, 
She can put a patch that you'd never see." 

4 "A fellow's mother is never mad, 
But only sorry if you are bad; 

And I tell you this, if you're only true, 
She'll always forgive you, whatever you do." 

— Selected. 

Verse. (For six little children, each holding a let- 
ter of the word ''Mother.") 

"Who is queen of babyland? 
Mother, kind and sweet ; 
And her love, born above. 
Guides the little feet." 

Song. Old-Fashioned Photograph. (By larger 
pupils.) 

Recitation. (For a little girl wearing dust-cap, 
spectacles, etc.) 

"I am a little housemaid. 
This sweeping cap I wear 
Because I must, for fear the dust 
Will settle in my hair. 

"I've put on grandma's glasses; 
Those and her kerchief, too. 
Are to make me look like our old cook ; 
I wonder if I do. 

"This bunch of keys is mother's. 
They jingle as I walk; 
But I must go, for maids, you know. 
Must not stop long to talk." 

— Selected. 
149 



Recitation. Our Homestead. Phoebe Gary. 
Song. Down on the Farm. 
Composition. Mothers. 
Concert Recitation. 

'Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky, 

Hundreds of shells on the shore togetner^ 
Hundreds of birds that go singing by, 

Hundreds of bees in the sunny Wt3ather; 
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn. 

Hundreds of lambs in the purple clover, 
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn, 

But only one mother the wide world over." 

Song. Stick to Your Mother, Tom. 
Recitation. Little Hans. 

Little Hans was helping mother 

Carry home the lady's basket ; 
Chubby hands, of course, were lifting 

One great handle — can you ask it? 
As he tugged away beside her. 

Feeling, oh! so brave and strong. 
Little Hans was softly singing 

To himself a little song. 

"Sometime I'll be as tall as father, 

Though I think it's very funny ; 
And I'll work and build big houses, 

And give mother all the money ; 
For," and little Hans stopped singing. 

Feeling, oh! so strong and grand, 
"I have got the sweetest mother 

You can find in all the land." 

— Selected. 
150 



CHAPTER XII 
Busy Work and Pictures 

BUSY WORK 

Arrange your schedule so that the seat work may be 
a continuation of the lessons each day. If, in a First 
Reader class, "cherry" is the new sight word, let the 
children write, "I see a cherry," or "cherries are red," 
for busy work. Again, they may draw cherries and 
color them. 

If, in an Arithmetic class, the drill is on the number 
12, let the busy work following the lesson be original 
examples, showing its various combinations as 
3_4— 12, 2X6=12, 7+5=12, 6+6=12, etc. Again 
examples may be placed on the board for children to 
copy and to work at their seats. 

During the half hour that precedes a Geography les- 
son, have the children to copy neatly into their tablets 
the names of the cities, rivers or mountains, mentioned 
in the answers and bring them to the class. Should 
they grow tired of this, let them draw maps for a few 
weeks, or make tables dividing the lesson into topics. 

If there is a vacant period before a recitation in 
spelling, have the children to copy the lesson in tablets 
or spelling blanks ; if the busy time follows the recita- 
tion have them to write the mis-spelled words, or the 
lesson for the following day. Again, you may require 
the pupils to study the spelling lesson, at this hour, 
a certain number of times, as ten or sixteen. 

151 



Make seat work profitable and purposeful. Have 
attractive materials. Keep them in neatly labeled 
boxes in a convenient place. Teach children to help 
keep them clean and nice and not to tear, soil and 
mark them. 

Seek always to keep the children interested. This 
requires forethought and preparation on the part of 
the teacher. That which will be intensely interesting 
to little people at one time will seem dull and stupid at 
another. If materials for busy work are put away for 
awhile, when taken out again they will be enjoyed by 
the children as much as ever. Among various devices 
the following may be used: 

First Grade. 

Write copies. 
Cut squares. 
Cut leaves. 
Cut triangles. 

Write words from speller. 
Write words from reader. 
Work simple examples. 
Fold or cut paper. 
Copy sentences from chart. 
Copy sentences from deader. 
Draw from first reader or from models. 
Trace around hands on slate or paper. 
Trace around leaves on slate or paper. 
Trace around circles, squares, pentagons, and hexa- 
gone (made of pasteboard). 

Arrange toothpicks in groups of three, four, five, etc. 
Arrange shoe pegs in the same way. 

152 



Arrange shoe pegs on desks to represent chairs, 
tables, houses, etc. 

Copy examples from blackboard. 
Copy from board one, two, three, etc. 
12 3 

Copy a b c's from blackboard. 

Copy figures from blackboard. 

Copy addition tables. 

Copy subtraction tables. 

Arrange a b c's of cardboard. 

Arrange cardboard figures in order as 1-2-3. 

Arrange letters (made on cardboard) to form words 
in lesson. 

Arrange words (prepared by teacher on bits of card- 
board) into sentences. 

Color the leaves they trace. 

Color the objects they draw. 

Arrange grains of corn to form chairs, tables and 
other objects. 

Make figures and Roman numerals with shoe pegs. 

Second Grade. 

Write in copy books. 

Work in number tablets. 

Use any of the first grade devices. 

Write : 

Names of colors. Names of furniture. 

Names of flowers. Names of kitchen utensils. 

Names of girls. Things that are hard. 

Names of boys. Things that are soft. 

Names of trees Things that are black. 

Names of animals. Things that are white. 

Names of fruits. Things that are yellow. 

Names of birds. Things that are green. 

153 



Names of games. Things in the schoolroom. 

Things seen through the window. 

Things seen on the way to school. 

Words that rhyme with **hand." 

Words that rhyme with "fill." 

Words that rhyme with "book.'* 

Words beginning with "a.*' 

Words beginning with "b." 

Words beginning with "c." 

Names of things seen in a picture. 

Copy poems from second reader. 

Cut vases, tumblers, etc. 

Illustrate lessons with pencil. 

Cut objects studied about. 

Cut stars and hearts. 

Illustrate lessons with scissors. 

Cut and mount bits of leather. 

Press and mount leaves. 

Press and mount flowers. 

Copy poems from other books. 

Copy multiplication tables. 

Write lessons in arithmetic. 

Write original examples. 

Write a letter to mother. 

Write a letter to father. 

Write a letter to the teacher. 

Draw from models and reader. 

Illustrate reading lesson. 

Model things with clay. 

Work at sand table. 

Write what each child in room is doing. 

Third Grade. 

Continue the use of second grade devices. 

154 



Draw and color maps and pictures. 

Fold boxes, squares, birds, etc. 

Make rulers of stiff paper. 

Draw and color maps and cut them out with scissors. 

Copy compositions neatly on paper, drawing the 
subject at the top of the page. 

Write letters and copy carefully after they have 
been corrected. 

Write questions of names of places mentioned in the 
Geography lessons. Cut them into slips, of paper 
ready for use on review days. 

Make a list of trades and occupations. 

Make a list of merchants of the town. 

Make a list of things used on a farm. 

Write seven questions about trees and give answers. 

Use the Busy Work Cards published by Claude J. 
Bell, Nashville Tenn. 

Fourth and Fifth Grades. 

Have a regular time for supplementary reading. 
Write a list of things sold in groceries. 
Select a word, as "continent" and see how many 
words can be made from it. 

Write names of different kinds of dry goods. 

Write seven facts about insects. 

Write seven facts about birds. 

Write seven facts about fish. 

Write the abbreviations of twelve States. 

Write the nicknames of eight cities. 

Find out how these are made : 

Gunpowder Resin 

Bricks Tar 

Glass Cheese 

Djaiamite Candles 
155 



starch Carpets 
Tapioca Leather 
Camphor Soap 




vhsit kingdom do these belong: 




Linen Chalk 
Silk Water 
Cotton Tables 
Wool Chairs 


Soda 
Coal 
Amber 
Ivory 



Draw a circle upon the board and ask the pupils to 
see how many things they can make using a circle as a 
foundation. Show them how it can be turned into a 
ball, an apple, a cherry, a bird, a gourd, a fan, a 
mouse with his back turned, a face, etc. 




In the same manner show how an oval may be con- 
verted into a vase, a pitcher, or a bird. 

Cut cups, tumblers, goblets, vases, lamps and other 
objects out of paper. 

Write a list of nouns. 

Write a list of adjectives. 

Draw and color with water colors. 

Use Busy Work Cards. 

156 



Helps. Paint-boxes, with very good colors, may be 
bought for 25 cents fromi Milton Bradley Co., Atlanta, 
Ga., or Hoover Bros., Kansas City, Mo. 

Colored pencils are four cents a box at racket stores. 

Shoe pegs may be bought from any shoemaker. Ten 
cents v^orth will be sufficient for many children. 

Kindergarten straws may be bought from Milton 
Bardley Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Outline maps may be bought from D. C. Heath & 
Co., Atlanta, Ga. These may be colored by the pupils 
to show^ the products. On one map show by colors 
where the gold fields are, on another show farming 
districts, and on another the manufacuring centers. 

Anagrams may be made with old visiting cards or 
thick paper. 

Blank sheets of drawing paper may be bought for 
20 cents per package. 

Number tablets may be bought from the American 
Book Company. 

Woolwine tablets, with double-ruled lines, are for 
sale at most book stores. 

"Busy Work Devices" is a small pamphlet by Abbie 
Hall, published by A. J. Fouch & Co., Warren, Pa. 
Price 10 cents. 

Cut-up chromo cards to be placed together by chil- 
dren, published by the same firm. Price 10 cents a set. 

Busy Work Cards, suitable for second, third and 
fourth grades, published by Claude J. Bell, Nashville, 
Tenn. 

Raised enamel letters from placards and advertise- 
ments; gures on calendars pasted on stiff paper and 
cut up ; words from old first readers — all may be util- 
ized. 

"How to Manage Busy Work" is published by A. S. 
Barnes & Co., New York. 

157 



PICTURES 

Kinds. Collect pictures of different kinds, from old 
magazines, school journals, newspapers, etc. 

Uses. They may be used for language lessons, geog- 
raphy lessons, morning exercises, drawing models, 
wall decorations. 

Let children make collections of pictures. One may 
gather together those of birds and paste them on a 
large oblong piece of cardboard, to be hung on the 
wall. Another may collect pictures of flowers, another, 
famous people; another, our warships; and still 
another, famous buildings. 

Show stereopticon views of famous pictures. 

They may be used for geography scrap-books, his- 
tory scrap-books, or Tennessee scrap-books. 

The teacher may give, for morning exercises, a talk 
about some famous picture as the "Sistine Madonna," 
'The Last Supper," 'The Transfiguration," 'The An- 
gelus." Pupils may give five-minute talks on "Wash- 
ington," "Longfellow," or "Benjamin Franklin," and 
show the picture. 

Pictures of home life and of children showing kind- 
ness to animals are suitable for the walls. 

Avoid using pictures of war and bloodshed, or of 
cruelty and anger. Use for walls those which are 
uplifting, and will exert a good influence on the mind. 
Unconsciously we are influenced by our surroundings. 

From an article in an old copy of The Normal In- 
structor the following is quoted: 

"The walls of the Swiss and Prussian schoolhouses 
are made to teach by pictures. These are not war 
scenes, or pictures associated in any way with the 
killing of man or animals. They represent the kindly 
acts of the common people. ... In Germany 

1p8 



every child passes through fairyland. The education 
of the imagination is a part of the soul training. 
... In selecting pictures and objects for the moral 
decorations of the school room, scenes which represent 
the work of those who seek their happiness in the 
gratitude of others are the most effective and have 
the greatest governing power. They leave an un- 
conscious sense-impression on th plastic mind and sus- 
cptible heart of the child, whose influence will follow 
the suggestion for life. Such pictures may represent 
the work of philanthropists; or pastoral scenes of 
kindly life among the flocks ; or gentle sympathies of 
simple peasant people. . . . Pictures of birds and 
flowers have an uplifting influence, but not so great 
as those which represent the noble qualities of the 
heart. . . . Pictures of men and women whose 
work stands for character are inspirational." Heze- 

KIAH BUTTERWORTH. 

Large pictures of Washington, Lincoln, Longfellow, 
Bryant, Whittier, Froebel, may be purchased at rea- 
sonable prices. 

^ ''The decorations on the walls of a man's house are 
his soul. The decorations on the walls of the school- 
room often represent the teacher's soul." 

Pictures may be given as rewards for punctuality, 
deportment and scholarship. 

Mount on stiff paper those which are to be used in 
the geography class and put them in a box. Label 
another box, "Pictures for Language Lessons," and 
another, "Drawing Models." 

Helps. Catalog from G. P. Brown & Co., Beverly, 
Mass. Catalog from Perry Picture Co., Maiden, Mass. 

159 



Abuses. Never allow the children to tear, disfigure, 
or soil the pictures. When one is spoiled from con- 
stant use lay.it aside. Give them for models and for 
busy work only those which are neat and clean. 

Never show a great many pictures at one time. Se- 
lect a few for your lesson or lessons, or give to each 
child one to draw from, or write from, and do not 
show your whole collection at once. Keep some so 
that they will be new to the pupils, and thus the in- 
terest will be kept up. If you show too many at once 
it confuses the minds of the children. 




160 



Great thoughts beautifully presented to young people, ai 
greatly in developing their mental and moral characters and ai 
a source of constant inspiration to them. To aid teachers in th: 
great work we have selected twenty genuine gems and have thei 
printed on fine white Bristol Board with beautiful red and bli 
ink, which gives a pretty effect of the national colors. They ca 
be easily read across any school-room and children will neve 
tire of them. They are about 8x15 inches in size, punched an 
furnished with colored cords just ready for hanging. You fui 
nish only the nails or tacks and the work is done. 

The entire set of twenty will be sent postpaid for only fift 
cents. Either half set for only thirty cents. The mottoes pa 
for themselves hundreds of times each year. See list below : 

HALF SET No. 1 HALF SET No. 2 

"Try, Try Again." "Find a Way, or Make a Way 

"Well Begun is Half Done." "Do You Know It, or Only Thir 
"Am I Doing Right?" You Do?" 

"A Frown is a Cloud, a Smile "How Does Yesterday's Woi 

is Sunshine." Appear Today?" 

"If I Deceive, Whom Do I "How Will Today's Work A; 

Cheat?" pear Tomorrow?" 

"God Sees Me." "One Thing at a Time and Th; 

"Think." Well Done." 

"Do All the Good You Can "If I Deceive My Teacher, Wl 

and Don't Make a Fuss is Cheated?" 

About It." "Think Deep, Not Loud." 

"Will It Pay?" "Do Right.' 

"Paddle Your Own Canoe." "There is a Right Way, Thei 

Are Many Wrong Ways." 
"Think the Truth, Speak th 
Truth, Act the Truth." 

CLAUDE J^ BELL, Nashville, Tenn. 



SILENT OCCUPATION 

Sentence Building 

Prepared by M.)cs. Claude J. Bell. Twelve complete sentence 
of six simple words each, printed on smooth heavy paper, 5x 
inches. Single words to be cut apart by the teacher and used h 
Primer and First Grade Children for Seat Work. Note c 
instruction on each chart. A very useful and pleasing form ( 
busy work. 10 charts for 10 cents. 30 charts for 25 cents. 

CLAUDE J. BELL 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 840 143 2 



